Kids
by Riquisel Yutifae
Summary: Kids are coming from an unknown time portal from the future and messing up the present lives of Cloud and the others. One of them claims to be Cloud's son. Is it true?
1. One

Kids

By: Riquisel Yutifae

Disclaimer: Final Fantasy 7 and Kingdom Hearts belong to their respective owners (if you're in a blur, it's SquareEnix and Disney). I just own the story plot.

Author's note: A weird attempt at humor… or not? I don't know… inspired by a joking session with some friends and cousins. Enjoy! ^^

======================================== 

One

            "Good morning, Cloud!!!" 

Cloud just shifted to the other side of the bed, covering his head with the pillow and groaning, pretending not to have heard the voice that he did not became so familiar with at first, but then upon realizing how long he had not been able to hear the voice, he removed the pillow from his head and instantly sat up on his bed and to turned to the direction where he heard the voice.

But there was no one there.

His excited smile faded away. Was it just another dream? He bowed down his head, disappointed at himself and the things going on around him.

The early morning sunshine seeped through the blue curtains of his room in the new AVALANCHE HQ located at the newly-rebuilt Sector 7 in Neo-Midgar. "Maybe it's Tifa or Yuffie playing tricks on my head again…" he thought silently before he yelled, "Get out from under the bed, Tifa or Yuffie or whoever you are pretending to be Aerith!"

Silence.

"I'm not pretending to be Aerith," 

Cloud almost fell out of bed when he realized that someone was lying on the bed beside him…

Aerith.

He still was not used to it… and he could not believe it himself.

"You must've been so used to not having me around anymore, Cloud." She said with a probing tone.

He laughed, feeling so embarrassed as he came back into his senses. "N…no… I just thought that I was still dreaming…" he said sheepishly before he plopped down on the bed again and embraced her tightly. "Good morning, Aerith," he whispered softly against her ear.

She was somewhat surprised at his sudden reaction towards her, but she was smiling gently as she returned his embrace. "It's so nice to be back," she thought silently.

"Hey, you two lovebirds! Rise and shine!" Barret called out from outside their room as he banged repeatedly on the door.

Cloud grumbled and got to his feet, "What?! It's still too early!" he called out.

"Rufus has a parade, remember? Everyone's required to attend!" Barret replied.

"Oh yeah…" Cloud muttered miserably before scratching his head.

Aerith slowly sat up, stretching and yawning sleepily in the process. 

"I just don't understand, Aerith… you're back here with us… but… why did you have to take four crazy people with you?" Cloud asked, facing her.

She looked up at him unbelievably.

Cloud frowned slightly. "No offense," he told her.

She smiled sweetly. "The voices told me that I could take four people with me. And since they were the only ones I knew so well in the Lifestream besides my own mommy, I just decided to take them along with me. Isn't that wonderful, Cloud?" she asked happily.

He did not really know how to answer. "Oh… yeah. It's very wonderful…" he said weakly with a silly smile on his face before turning away. "Wonderful… Sephiroth, Rufus, Tseng and Lucrecia. Just nice…" he thought miserably.

There is a downside with each:

Sephiroth could just snap once more no matter how much Aerith would convince everyone that he's not insane… Rufus ShinRa is still the same cold and heartless asshole everyone knew so well and even if he got the whole of Midgar fixed and stopped corruption in the whole city, Cloud would still think that the reputation of ShinRa as "bad" can never be removed from Rufus's name… and face… and reputation itself no matter how many times you laundry it. Tseng's return just completed the Turks again, meaning, more trouble in case something bad happens again because of Sephiroth… and Tseng likes Aerith too. Very bad. Lucrecia is Sephiroth's mother. Who knows, with those two together, they could produce a movie like Psycho, only this time, it's real life. 

Cloud just shrugged. "At least Aerith is here…" he thought silently.

Or maybe she isn't.

Cloud heard another banging on the door, "Cloud, wake up!"

Tifa.

"I'm awake! I'm awake!" Cloud called out impatiently. "What's wrong with them? Why would they even want me to get up early?" he muttered miserably. He froze when he realized that Aerith was just standing in one place, staring at him with a loving look on her face. "In time, Cloud…" she said softly.

He frowned slightly. "Huh?"

She smiled sweetly as tears fell from her eyes. "Wait for me… and I'll wait for you…"

Banging on the door again.

"Alright! Alright!" Cloud snapped, turning his gaze to the door and then back to Aerith…

But she wasn't there anymore.

Cloud felt his heart sink as his eyes widened in shock. His mouth was slightly open and he forgot to breathe. He felt so disturbed as he looked around his surroundings, realizing the it was beginning to get darker and darker…

Until he could not see anything anymore.

"AERITH!!!!!!!" he screamed out her name.

But all he heard as a response was a child's laughter.

            "CLOUD!" Tifa called out from outside his bedroom door for the 10th time. She already sounded so annoyed.

Cloud jerked upright, finally awake, his blue eyes wide in confusion and shock. He was gasping for breath even as he looked around the room.

"It was… it was a dream…" he thought silently with a rather disappointed look on his face.

He jerked up in surprise upon hearing Barret calling out from outside, "Ya foo'! What's wrong wit ya?! There's someone at the livin' room  fer ya!" and then banged angrily at the door.

Cloud instantly got up. "Who?" he called out.

"Oh, you're awake, thank the heavens!" Tifa said in relief as Cloud opened the door and saw Barret and Tifa standing there before him.

"We've been here for 25 minutes already and you're still asleep after all the ruckus we've caused here. The whole house is awake, even Vincent Valentine who's slumbering in the attic, and then you're still asleep, what's wrong with ya?!" Barret demanded frantically.

Cloud sleepily looked up into Barret's eyes. "I'm sorry, who's here for me again?" he asked, wanting to change the subject. Nagging from Barret and Tifa combined so early in the morning was the last thing that he'd like to hear. Heck, Barret's still in his pajamas.

Barret and Tifa were quiet for a few moments before the latter spoke up, "It's… a young boy. He says he knows you." 

Silence.

"A young boy?" Cloud asked.

"I was in the marketplace buying some vegetables and flowers, then I saw him lying on the street on my way home. I thought I'd help him because… I don't know… when I looked into his eyes, I thought I saw Aerith… you and Aerith…together…" Tifa hesitated, bowing down her head. When she told the story to Barret, he thought it was ridiculous, so she thought that it might also sound ridiculous to Cloud. But before she could proceed, Cloud already ran down the stairs going to the living room area.

Upon reaching the first floor, he froze; his eyes wide in awe as he stared at the young boy who had his back to him. His figure was being silhouetted by the sunlight as he stood before the window and was looking outside.

The boy slowly turned around and looked at the blonde man with blue eyes wearing loose blue jogging pants and a loose white shirt.

The boy cheered happily and ran to Cloud, "Daddy!"

Cloud's mouth dropped open in surprise, so did Tifa and Barret…

The boy gave Cloud a tight hug. "Daddy, I'm so glad to see you again!" he cheered happily.

Cloud felt so confused as he stared blankly at the boy who was hugging him. He turned his gaze to Tifa, then to Barret.

Tifa was covering her mouth as if still in a state of shock.

"T…Tifa, are you sure he didn't hit his head when you saw him on the street?" Cloud asked her.

She could not reply. She was also stunned.

The boy looked up at Cloud, "Oh, don't be ridiculous, dad. I didn't hit my head. I was just sleepy and since I had no place to sleep last night, I just lied down on the street." He explained.

Wide-eyed, Cloud turned back to him and pushed him away. "Who are you?" he demanded.

The boy raised an eyebrow. "Wha?"

"Who are you?" Cloud repeated, still feeling confused.

The boy chuckled lightly. "Silly, dad! You're always confused… just like what mom said before. Don't you remember me? I'm Sora!" he introduced rather cheerfully.

"Sora?" Cloud asked.

The boy sighed heavily. "Your son, remember?" he asked.

Silence.

"Okay, Cloud, when did you have children?" Barret demanded.

"I don't remember anything, okay?! Look, maybe this kid belongs to Zack or someone else…" Cloud began.

"No, you're my dad!" Sora chimed in.

"Well then who's your mom?" Cloud snapped.

"Aerith Gainsborough-Strife. Does that ring a bell?" Sora asked.

Silence.

"WHAT ARE YOU?!" Cloud clutched his head in a confused gesture before he ran back upstairs.

Sora attempted to go after him, but Barret stopped him. "Okay, kiddo, what do you want with Cloud?" Barret demanded as he grabbed the boy's sleeve and pulled him to himself.

"Argh! Mister Wallace, let go of me!" Sora wailed as he struggled to break free from Barret's grasp.

"Hey, how'd ya know my name?" Barret asked in awe.

"Barret, let him go, you might hurt him!" Tifa warned sternly as she separated the two.

Sora hid behind Tifa. "Thank you, ma'am." He said.

Tifa smiled weakly at the boy before turning to face Barret again. "Go and check on Cloud. I'll stay here with this boy," she said softly.

Barret frowned and eyed the boy suspiciously. "What if that boy's just one of ShinRa's old experiments gone wild? Better be careful, Teef," he warned.

"I ain't an experiment, Mister Wallace, sir, I'm a person." Sora said with a pout.

Barret just snorted and marched upstairs while yelling, "Cloud Strife, ya foo'! Ya owe me an explanation foh dis!"

Tifa sighed in relief before turning back to Sora with a weak smile on her face. "What's your name again?" she asked gently.

"Sora. And you're Mrs. ShinRa." He replied sweetly.

Silence.

"No. I'm Miss Lockheart." Tifa explained rather weakly with a confused look on her face.

"No, you're Mrs. ShinRa!" he corrected.

She bit her lower lip as she forced a smile at him. "Just call me _Tifa_, alright?" she asked, trying to keep her patience.

"Okay. Auntie Tifa." Sora said proudly.

Silence.

"Okay, why don't we sit down in the kitchen and talk? I'll make you a cup of hot chocolate, would that be fine with you?" Tifa asked.

"Chocolate? Alright!!!" he said excitedly as he jumped up and down and followed Tifa to the kitchen. 

Sora sat down on one of the chairs. "Gee, this place looks rather small than the last time I've seen it." He said out loud while scanning the whole area.

Tifa frowned slightly. "You're in Kalm. We moved here because Midgar's destroyed." She muttered rather miserably before grabbing a mug. "So, what's your name again?" she asked.

"Why do you keep on asking my name if you already know it?" he asked.

"I just want to be sure." She replied.

"Okay, my name is Sora Strife. I'm 14 years old and I'm from Midgar… Sector 2." He replied.

Tifa almost poured some hot water on her own hand upon hearing that. She turned to face the boy with a look of awe on her face, "Sector 2? But… Midgar is destroyed!" she said. What if he's just a ghost?

Sora blinked. "No, it's not. What are you saying?" He replied.

She blinked, feeling more confused. "Okay, never mind… just go on…" she said hesitantly before turning around again and continued to make the hot chocolate for him.

"Anyway, I don't know what really happened because the last thing I remembered, I was sleeping in my bed, and then when I woke up, I was already in a strange place… I am not sure where. I wandered until I reached this place, Kalm, as you've mentioned the name earlier…" he explained.

Tifa turned around to face him again with a confused look on her face. "Are you sure you're not an alien from outer space?" she asked directly.

"I'm not!" Sora said with a ridiculous look on his face.

Tifa looked away and began to put some powdered chocolate in the mug and then stirred rather frantically. Sora watched as she moved, noticing her franticness and the way her gaze seemed to be darting from one place to another. "Why are you nervous? Did something bad happen to your husband again?" he asked.

Tifa placed the mug before him and went over to the cupboard to get some a bag of marshmallows. She got around four pieces and placed it in the mug, letting those float in the chocolate. Sora sniffed the aroma of the hot chocolate and the marshmallows. "Hmm! Cool! Thanks, Auntie Tifa," he told her cheerfully before blowing on the steam and took a sip. He smiled sweetly at Tifa, "It's very delicious, Auntie Tifa! Thank you!" he said.

She smiled weakly before proceeding to cook breakfast, in hopes that the diversion of cooking could make her forget about what the boy was telling her… but she couldn't.

"You want me to help you?" Sora asked.

"No, thank you, Sora, I can manage." Tifa told him.

"Well… it's so unlikely of me to see you working in the kitchen because I used to see you not doing house work." He told her.

"And why not?" she asked.

"And why are you in this small house? Isn't your husband angry at you for staying here?" he asked.

"?!" she turned to face him again, but she froze when she realized that Vincent was standing by the doorway listening to the conversation.

Vincent was staring unbelievably at Sora with wide red eyes.

Sora turned around and smiled at Vincent. "Oh, hello Mister Valentine." He greeted.

Vincent blinked in awe. "H…hello," he greeted back before approaching the table and sat down on his own chair. He was looking at Tifa.

Tifa just shrugged and continued to cook. "Okay, Sora… enough with the games… who are you, really, and where did you come from?" she demanded sternly.

Sora blinked. "Huh? I'm Sora Strife! I'm from Midgar!" he said.

Vincent was looking at Sora curiously, noticing his very close resemblance to Cloud and Aerith combined. "Are you sure you're from Midgar?" he asked.

Sora turned to him, "Of course, I'm from Midgar, Mister Valentine! I thought you knew!" he replied.

Vincent turned to Tifa before looking back at Sora with a serious look on his face, "But Midgar is destroyed right now." He told him.

"Nah-uh. You can see the tall ShinRa building from here if there's no fog. I just can't see it right now coz it's foggy outside." Sora replied.

Vincent got up and went to the living room to look outside the window. "No, Sora, it's not foggy. It's very sunny." He pointed out.

Sora blinked and got up from the chair to go to Vincent. He looked outside and did not see the ShinRa building. He was stunned. "Wha… what the…" he began.

Vincent grabbed the boy's hand. "Okay, who are you?" he asked sternly.

Sora was confused and suddenly, he was panicking. He moved away from Vincent, pulling his hand away. "I told you guys, I am Sora Strife! Don't you recognize me?!" he demanded.

The more he panicked when he saw Tifa looking curiously at him with a kitchen knife on her grasp, and then he turned to the stairs to see that Yuffie, Barret and Red XIII were all staring suspiciously at him. 

Red XIII!

"Maybe he could recognize me!" Sora thought silently before approaching the animal. "Hey, Red! What's up?" he asked nervously.

Red XIII froze.

"Bite him, Red!" Barret commanded.

Red XIII just stared up at Sora, feeling his human hands petting and caressing his fur. The boy embraced him tightly. "Red, tell these people who I am! Please!" he said softly with a sad tone.

Red felt so stunned. The boy smelled so familiar… but he was sure that he hasn't seen him before. He just blurted out in a hoarse whisper, "Aerith…"

Their eyes widened.

"Wh…what?" Yuffie asked in awe.

Red XIII felt so happy as he stared at the boy and then licked his face. "You smell like Aerith." He said happily.

Sora chuckled lightly. "She's my mommy!" he explained.

Red XIII could not understand what Sora had just told him, but the scent of the boy made him understand. "But… how… where is she?" he asked.

"She's in Midgar! Can you help me go back to her?" Sora asked.

"Midgar is destroyed, remember?" Vincent reminded him.

They all fell silent. Now everyone is confused.

"What's going on?" Marlene was descending the steps, causing all of them to turn to her.

Sora's eyes widened. "…?!"

Marlene stared at Sora carefully. "Oh, hello. Are you a visitor?" she asked sleepily.

Sora stared at the little girl. Then at Vincent. Then at Barret, Yuffie… and then Tifa.

They all looked younger… and wearing different clothes…

Finally, Cloud arrived from upstairs. He still looked confused, but this time, he was already wearing his usual clothes.

Sora's eyes widened upon seeing him. "Wh… where's your red cape, dad?" he asked.

Cloud frowned slightly. "What red cape?" he asked curiously.

Sora's mouth dropped open as he felt the world spinning around him. "Is this the Twilight Zone?" he thought out loud as the images became very blurred. He could hear his mother's gentle laughter from somewhere, but he could not determine where. He touched his head with a trembling hand and moved away from Red XIII…

And he fainted.

==================================== 

to be continued….

Author's note: Oooooh! Weird, huh?


	2. Two

Kids

By: Riquisel Yutifae

Author's Notes: My apologies to General Quistis for also using the names of her original characters here. I was also inspired by them too, you know? ^^ It's for added amusement for this fic. ^^

--------------------------------------------------------------------------

Chapter Two

            Cloud was still confused. He did not really know how to react to the current situation, so he just remained seated in one corner of his room and staring into empty space.

It had been a week already ever since the boy arrived at their home, and the boy fainted a week ago… and was still unconscious.

He wished that the boy would awaken already so that he could ask his questions already… several questions regarding the boy's identity and about Aerith. Who knows, he could have the answers.

His thoughts were interrupted when he heard someone knocking on the door of his room. He wearily gazed at the door but did not answer.

"Cloud, are you in there?" Tifa asked.

He just kept quiet.

"Cloud?" Vincent called out.

He just leaned back against the wall and sighed heavily. "If it's about that kid again, keep him away from me." He snapped impatiently.

The two from outside fell silent. Cloud realized that it's really about Sora.

"Cloud, it's dinnertime," Tifa called out.

Cloud clenched his fist. "I'm not hungry." He told them.

"Cloud, could we talk?" Vincent asked.

"What for? That kid is not my son. I have no son! I'm not even married yet!" Cloud snapped miserably.

"Which is why we would like to talk to you," Vincent told him.

Cloud raised an eyebrow, "Okay, if you're thinking that I'm an unmarried father, then you're making a big mistake too!" he stated flatly.

"No, of course not. Can we come in?" Tifa called out.

Cloud just got up and went to the door and opened it for his two friends. The two stepped inside without even looking at him. Cloud shut the door and bolted it before facing the two. Tifa was seated by the window and looking up at the stars in the skies, while Vincent was standing by the bed, staring at Cloud.

"It could be possible that the kid is yours…" Vincent said softly.

"I told you, I'm not…" Cloud began, but Tifa cut him off, "…He could've come from a different time and place." She stated sternly.

"What's your evidence?" Cloud asked.

"Red XIII sniffed him. He could recognize your scent and Aerith's scent in the boy." Vincent pointed out.

"Well then from what time and place did he come from?" Cloud asked.

"I don't know… maybe the future? You know, the way he calls all of us… he calls you daddy and he calls Vincent _Mister Valentine and me… never mind." Tifa turned to Cloud. Cloud was staring at her, "He calls you what?" he asked._

"It's disturbing. Never mind. But isn't it a good way of predicting what's in store for all of us? Like you, for example, Aerith is coming back!" she replied with a hopeful look on her face.

The mention of the name made Cloud's heart jump. He turned to Vincent as if wanting to verify why Tifa had mentioned. Vincent just smiled calmly at him. "I think you should try to appreciate Sora even for a little now… after all, he is going to be your son in another place and time." He told him.

Cloud frowned slightly. "You're making it all up," he told them.

"Wha?" Tifa asked in awe.

"You're making it all up. Sora's just an ordinary boy from somewhere and he could be crazy that's why he keeps saying stuff like that. You haven't even asked him about himself yet… about his true self, that is. He's still asleep. Maybe you could wake him up." Cloud pointed out before yawning.

"Cloud, the kid's awake already. He's been awake ever since this morning and we all talked to him already. He told us… things. Several things." Tifa pointed out.

"Several things like what?" he asked.

"Why don't you ask him yourself?" she asked with a sweet smile on her face.

"You're just making it all up. If you're sincere, the mention of Aerith's name would make you go nuts." Cloud pointed out.

Tifa twitched. "I thought we already talked about… about my feelings?" she asked rather hesitantly.

Vincent rolled his eyes. "Oh no… not again…" he thought silently before he sat down on the bed and just pretended to be busily reading something that he got from Cloud's bedside table while the two kept on babbling. 

Blah blah blah…..

The door opened, just in time when Tifa punched Cloud's face which sent him flying outside the window. Those who witnessed it were Sora and Vincent.

Sora gasped at what he saw.

"You know, I think adults should never argue in front of a kid," Vincent pointed out calmly.

Tifa just flipped her hair and walked away.

Sora rushed to the window and looked outside, "Daddy?" he called out. He looked down and saw Cloud trying to get up and then dusting himself.

"Daddy!" Sora said in relief. To their surprise, he dived out of the window down to Cloud.

Cloud's eyes widened when he saw the boy coming at him. "What the…" he had managed to say before Sora crashed against him in an embrace. "Wheee! Daddy! You're okay!" the boy was cheering happily.

Cloud was stunned at first because of the severe pain he was feeling all over his body, but he realized that the boy was hugging him. He smiled slightly.

Vincent was looking at them from the window upstairs. "You okay?" he called out.

Cloud looked up at him and nodded miserably. "I guess so…" he replied rather glumly.

            "I think I really sprained my ankle, Tifa." Cloud said airily.

"Go get some warm water for yourself and soak it until the water stinks." Tifa muttered miserably before gulping down some water and then continued to eat.

"Gee… daddy was right when he said that I should not argue with your kids because you might kill me." Sora pointed out.

Tifa turned to him with a sarcastic smile on her face, "Kids?" she asked.

"Yeah. Two girls and one boy." Sora pointed out while chewing his food.

"You should never talk when there's something in your mouth, Sora," Cloud instructed mindlessly.

Sora stopped chewing for a while and then swallowed his food, "Oh, sorry, Daddy," he said sheepishly.

Cloud snapped back into his senses, "Will you stop calling me _daddy_?" he asked, trying to keep his patience.

"Ahem," Vincent cleared his throat, interrupting Sora's attention from Cloud. The boy turned to look at Vincent, "So you say you're from Midgar but it seems like it's from a different time and place?" he asked.

Sora nodded before slicing his lamb chop with a knife and then ate it. He chewed his food quickly and then swallowed it. "This is really delicious; who cooked this?" he asked cheerfully.

"Tifa cooked it." Yuffie replied.

"Cool! But I never tasted her cooking before from where I came from." He replied with a quite disappointed look on his face.

"How come?" Barret asked.

"No, really, where did you come from?" Cloud asked impatiently, dropping his knife and fork on his plate, making a surprising noise that made everyone jerk up in surprise.

"I'm not sure myself… but I know that this isn't my correct time to be in because Miss Marlene here is still a kid!" Sora replied.

Silence.

"What's it like to be in your time, Mister Sora?" Marlene asked cheerfully.

Sora turned to her excitedly, "It's wonderful! I live in Sector 2, Midgar! Everything's so wonderful there." He began.

"And your parents?" Tifa asked.

"They're the best!" he said proudly.

Cloud stared unbelievably at him. "Aerith… your mother… how did she come back?" he asked.

Sora turned to him curiously. "Come back? What do you mean?" he asked.

"I think he doesn't know what happened to Cloud and Aerith," Barret whispered to Vincent and Tifa.

Cloud just shook his head. "N… never mind." He muttered miserably before he continued to eat.

Sora sighed heavily before turning to Vincent, "I have to go back or else my mom and dad will get worried… and I messed up the past now! You're not supposed to know that I exist until after some more years from now!" he pointed out with a worried look on his face.

"You're right. So now the future must be changing because we know that you exist… it's confusing but…" Vincent began.

"Well then what are we gonna do with you?" Barret asked Sora.

Sora thought for a while before shrugging. "I'm not even sure myself." He said.

"Are you sure you don't remember how you got here?" Tifa asked him curiously.

He shook his head. "Nah. Told ya I was asleep and then when I woke up, I wasn't in my room anymore!" He replied.

"Hmm… can you recall anything that happened before you went to bed?" Vincent asked.

Sora thought for a while before replying solemnly, "Hmm… I was in the ShinRa Building and then Samara asked me to go to the laboratory to meet her and Kairi there. And then when I arrived there, they were making potions… and Dr. Valentine was assisting them. I thought it was a useless potion because Samara made me taste it and it tasted like strawberry juice…so I just left…"

"Doctor Valentine?" Vincent asked curiously, his heart skipping a beat as he heard the name.

Sora proceeded, "…the new Head Scientist of ShinRa's Science Department. She's really nice. Anyway, I met dad in the President's Office because he's talking to the Prez. We went home and had some dinner that mommy cooked and then I played some games for a few hours before I went to bed." He explained.

Silence.

"You drank the potion and it tasted like strawberry juice?" Vincent asked, trying to comprehend what the boy did.

"Yeah." Sora replied coolly before proceeding to eat.

Vincent scratched his head, but he did not say anything more.

Cloud just shrugged. "Maybe someone from your time will start looking for you sooner or later and then they'll come for you here and then take you back where you came from." He pointed out.

"Hopefully." Sora said miserably.

"Who's Samara and who's Kairi?" Barret asked.

"Samara and Kairi are two of my friends, but between you guys and me, Kairi's nicer. I don't know why the hell she hangs out with Samara." Sora replied.

"Why? What's wrong with Samara?" Tifa asked curiously.

"She just… she just kinda creeps me out. You know, that long hair and the way she looks at you? Brrr… It's so weird. And she's so spoiled to her dad." He explained with a silly smile on his face.

"Why, who's her dad?" she asked.

Before Sora could reply, they heard someone knocking on the door.

"Who could that be at this time of the evening?" Yuffie asked out loud.

"Get it, will ya?" Barret asked.

"Yeah, yeah," she replied before she got up and rushed to the front door.

They waited for Yuffie to yell to them on who it was, but they were just surprised when she came back with a confused look on her face.

"Who was it?" Cloud asked.

Yuffie turned to Sora. "It's… it's for you…some guy named Riku…" she said with a weak smile on her face.

Sora's eyes widened as he smiled happily. "Oh yeah!" he got up and rushed to the front door.

"What's wrong, Yuffie? You act like you've seen a ghost." Tifa asked.

Yuffie looked at them with her wide eyes. "I… I thought I saw Sephiroth when I opened the door… a young version of Sephiroth, that is," she said softly.

They heard the front door close and then some footsteps nearing them. They all turned to the doorway of the kitchen leading to the living room and they were surprised to see Sora with a companion: a silver-haired boy with green eyes. 

They were all wide-eyed upon seeing the boy.

"Everyone, I'd like you to meet my best friend, Riku!" Sora introduced happily.

Cloud's jaw dropped.

Riku smiled cheerfully at them, "Hey, everyone!" he greeted pleasantly.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 

to be continued. Feh.


	3. Three

Kids

By Riquisel Yutifae

Author's notes: With permission from generalquistis and Zhakeena… I'm using your concepts here. Check out their site: http: ... ... it's where I got the idea.

* * *

Three

They all stared strangely at the boy with silver hair as he joined them for dinner.

Riku and Sora were chatting gaily, catching up with each other's lives that had been missed by one another for the past week.

Cloud and the others were listening to their conversation while staring hard at Riku, trying to think where the boy had originated from. "How come he has silver hair like Sephiroth?" Tifa was whispering to Yuffie.

Yuffie just shrugged.

"Eh… not to be rude but… who are your parents, Riku?" Barret asked, interrupting the two.

All eyes turned to Riku.

He simply replied, "Sephiroth is my father." And then proceeded to talk to Sora, "…And so they sent me over here. It turns out that that potion can send you in a time-traveling portal just in your mind." Riku pointed out.

"What? So you mean we're dreaming all of this?" Sora asked curiously.

"Not really… it's like… oh I don't know how to explain it! It's so complicated!" Riku said before he began to eat the mashed potatoes on his plate. "Hmm. This is good!" he remarked.

"But how did you get in here?" Sora asked.

"Eh… I asked Samara to make the same potion from the lab and then I drank it. She made me sleep and then I'm here!" Riku explained.

"Who's your mother, Riku?" Vincent asked curiously, interrupting the two young boys.

Riku just turned to look at him and then grinned before turning back to Sora and proceeded to talk to him, "…but don't worry, she's going to tell her mom and dad about what happened to us, and eventually, her mom and dad will tell my dad and your parents about what happened." He pointed out.

"Are you sure Samara didn't kill you and you're just sleeping back there?" Sora asked.

"I'm certain! Why?" Riku asked.

"I… just don't trust her that much because she's a ShinRa… the bad side of ShinRa, that is," Sora muttered miserably. "Heheh… she's the only weird one there! Look at her twin brother, her older sister, her older brother and then her younger sister, they're normal!" Riku said.

"You call _them_ normal? Theodore just laughs all day and he's so happy it gives me the creeps… and Lavinia… she's quite strange too. She bites people!" Sora explained.

"Not to mention Slate acts like he's stupid but he's not… and then Morrigan who's such a Prima Donna… but unfortunately she's friends with my sister so…" Riku continued, shrugging. The two were silent for a while, contemplating on what they had just said. "Well… their parents appear normal…" Riku pointed out.

"Okay, enough of the talk, kiddos, now explain to us again how you guys got in here?" Barret asked, interrupting them.

The two turned back, "Remember the strawberry-flavored potion I was telling you about a while ago? That's what made me go here. It opened up a time portal in my mind and so…" Sora touched his own hand, trying to feel himself. "…well, I'm not imagining things and I'm definitely awake…" he pinched himself and he cringed in pain. "Ow…" he muttered.

"I'm confused…" Barret muttered miserably before he got up and left the table.

"Hmm… this is somewhat complicated. I can't even understand it myself…" Cloud thought silently.

Sora smiled. "Hey, dad, can we let Riku stay here?" he asked.

"Yeah, whatever… he can sleep in Tifa's room." Cloud muttered miserably.

"What! I can't sleep in her room! Her husband will kill me!" Riku reacted with a panicky look on his face.

"Okay, Cloud, the two boys are sleeping in your room whether you like it or not." Tifa decided before she got up and removed her plate from the table. Cloud was not yet finished with his meal but she also got his plate and threw the scraps to Red XIII's dish before placing the plate in the sink.

"I can accommodate only one person! My room's not _that_ big compared to yours, Tifa," he pointed out impatiently.

"Well then do something about it. I'm not letting any of them sleep in my room." She said with a mean smile on her face.

Cloud just puffed and released his breath miserably before he got up from his seat and went upstairs. "Damn it…" he muttered.

The moment Cloud had gone upstairs, Tifa faced the two kids again, "Alright, since you came from the future, why can't you tell us how Aerith Gainsborough got brought back to life so that we could end Cloud's suffering now?" she asked with a patient tone.

"We can't, ma'am. We cannot interrupt what fate and destiny can do to you… and the future is not ours to hold. Sora and I came from the future but it doesn't mean that we can just go around here in the past disrupting the correct order of things. As much as possible, we're trying to keep things in order… even though I don't know if we're really doing it right or not…" Riku explained with a confused look on his face.

"Alright… you two kids just go upstairs now and get ready for bed." Tifa commanded as she began to wash the dishes.

Sora and Riku exchanged confused glances before turning to Tifa, "Eh… where are we going to sleep?" the latter asked.

"In Cloud's room." She replied mindlessly.

Sora jumped in joy. "Yay! I'm staying with dad!" he cheered happily and then left.

Riku just stared at Tifa, then turned his gaze to Vincent. He smiled uneasily at him.

Vincent shuddered as the boy smiled at him before he turned away. "Okay, you can stay in my room." Vincent told him.

Riku's eyes widened in awe. "Really?" he asked with a tone that seemed to falter.

"Y…yes." Vincent said gently, trying to sound casual. Riku smiled happily and instantly got up from his seat and ran to Vincent. They were all in awe when the young boy just embraced Vincent. They were hoping that the boy would say something, but he was just quiet.

Vincent smiled uneasily at Tifa and Marlene before forcing Riku to let go of him. "Alright, let's go upstairs now, boy." He told him as he got up and led the way upstairs.

Riku followed obediently while Vincent talked to him, "So, how old are you again?"

"15." Riku replied simply.

Vincent stared at his height. "You're… quite… short for your…" he began, but Riku stomped his foot. "No need to remind me… my brothers have told me a lot about it…" he muttered.

"Brothers?" Vincent asked after a moment of silence.

"Yeah. We're five children. I'm the youngest. The oldest is Dante. He's such a bully. Then there's Skurai… and then Jill… and then Kuja… and then me." Riku explained.

"Who's your mother?" Vincent asked curiously.

Riku just kept quiet.

Vincent thought, "Maybe he didn't hear my question…" so he asked again, "Who's your mother, Riku?" he asked. Riku just smiled rather shyly at him before turning away. Vincent shuddered. "What's there to smile about? How come… I feel like this?" he thought.

XXX

Cloud stared curiously at the young boy sleeping on the bed beside him. He sighed heavily before glancing at the clock which read 1:00 am. The boy had been sleeping ever since 9:00, an hour and a half after dinner.

"He must be really tired…" he thought silently. He stared up at the ceiling with a blank look on his face as he secretly envied the boy for sleeping soundly like he has no problems. He could recall that before the boy fell asleep, he asked him a question, "Don't you feel homesick?"

The boy just smiled at him and shook his head, "Nah. You're with me, dad." And then slowly drifted off to sleep.

Dad?

The noun made him wonder. "Aerith…" he whispered softly before he closed his eyes. "When will you come back? I miss you…" he thought sadly. He opened his eyes again when he felt tears streaming down from them. He sniffed and wiped them away before turning to his left and stared at the wall before he closed his eyes again. "At least I know, with this child present here, she'll come back… but when?" he thought silently as he realized that he does not even feel the least bit sleepy. He just swallowed hard and stared at the wall.

XXX

"What do you mean you haven't seen Riku around here?" Sephiroth demanded.

"What ever do you mean by that, Sephiroth?" Rufus asked calmly as he remained seated on his office chair and proceeded with his work.

"Several witnesses told me that the last time they've seen my son was here in your building." Sephiroth explained.

"I don't know what you mean." Rufus replied.

"Damn it, ShinRa! My son hasn't come home for a week already!" Sephiroth pointed out.

"Seven days, huh? Maybe he's just somewhere… sleeping over at Cloud's house?" Rufus asked.

"Impossible. Sora's also missing," Sephiroth told him.

Silence.

Rufus just raised his eyebrows as he entered some numbers to the computer. While typing, he said, "Maybe they eloped or something. Heh heh,"

"Very funny," Sephiroth said mockingly before he sat down on the chair facing Rufus's desk. "I'm serious. Riku was last seen here." He pointed out.

"Did he even ask permission from you that he's coming here or something?" Rufus asked.

"No. That's why I'm really…" he trailed off when a little girl spoke up, "Daddy,"

Rufus turned to the little girl who just entered his office. "Oh, hello, Samara," he greeted with a stiff look on his face. Sephiroth eyed the girl rather suspiciously. She noticed it easily, "Why are you staring at me that way, Mister Sephiroth?" she asked.

Although Sephiroth could not see her eyes because they're being covered by her hair, he still kept an eye on her. "Maybe you have seen Riku?" he asked.

She just kept quiet.

Rufus frowned slightly, "Samara, have you seen Riku?" he asked, suspecting something already. He knows that his daughter can do a lot of bad things without even saying it… but he doesn't really want to doubt his own daughter. She just smiled sweetly. "Don't worry. Wherever he is right now, I'm sure he's happy," she told them before she left.

Sephiroth's mouth dropped open in shock. "Rufus, I think your daughter did something stupid again…" he declared.

XXX

Samara immediately rushed to her own bedroom and shut the door. She leaned against the door with a frantic look on her face.

She was gazing at a girl four years older than her who was standing by the window. "Kairi," she began.

Kairi had this worried look on her face before she approached Samara. "What happened? You look… scared…" she said.

"Not really. I'm just really worried about what's going on… I can't even find them on my own. And Mister Sephiroth is already looking for Riku!" Samara replied.

"Well what are we going to do? We should've just played with other potions…" Kairi said with a miserable look on her face.

"We shouldn't have let Riku search for Sora alone! I should've come with him." Samara said.

Kairi was quiet for a while before smirking at her. Samara frowned at her best friend. "Why are you smiling like that?" she asked in annoyance… although she doesn't have to ask; she could easily read her mind… but she wanted to see if Kairi would deny it…

Kairi just shook her head and looked away. "What ever do you mean, Samara?" she asked innocently. Samara just snorted and looked away. "Fine, I'm going to look for them. If I don't find them… I'll probably stay there for a while… at the most, 7 days…" she muttered with an uncomfortable look on her face.

Kairi began to feel nervous. "Are you sure?" she asked. "What if they start looking for you?" she asked.

"You can tell them I am looking for Riku and Sora." Samara explained mindlessly before proceeding to the TV. As she approached, the TV switched on by itself. She could easily control things with her mind… and can even will people dead. It's one of her special abilities that must remain a secret within the walls of ShinRa, otherwise, people might start criticizing them negatively again.

"What will I tell them if they start looking for you?" Kairi asked.

"Just… tell them the truth!" Samara replied

"No, I wanna go instead!" Kairi told her as she approached. Samara stopped in her tracks and faced her friend. "You?" she asked. Kairi nodded. "I want to go there myself. You just stay here just in case. We can't afford to let anything bad happen most especially to you." She said with a smile on her face.

"What?" Samara asked in confusion.

"Come on, your dad's the president! If something bad happens to you, he will get mad at my parents and at Uncle Sephiroth too!" Kairi pointed out before turning to the TV, staring at the static. "Is that …safe?" she asked hesitantly, feeling nervous.

Samara shrugged. "I don't know for you but… for me it is." She said as she placed her hand against the screen. They watched as it went through it. "I've created a portal for you already. You can pass through it." She told Kairi.

Swallowing hard, Kairi approached the TV and let her foot go through the screen. "Whoa!" Kairi reacted in amazement.

"Careful," Samara warned.

Kairi looked back at her. "What will happen if I go in here?" she asked nervously.

"Since this method of traveling through time is only in our minds like it's a real dream, your body will be transported to the place _where we placed Sora and Riku's bodies_." Samara replied with a serious look on her face. "Now remember. Once you reach Kalm, ask for Tifa Lockheart or Barret Wallace, okay? And never ever say _ShinRa_. I've studied the history of this Planet and my family's surname wasn't very pleasant during the time where you're going." She continued. Kairi nodded. "Alright. I got it." Kairi said nervously before Samara pushed her completely through the screen.

The screen went blank and the TV switched off by itself.

Samara just stared at it for a short while before she turned to the door upon hearing someone enter. "Samara,"

The 10 year-old ebony-haired girl gazed up at her father with wide blue eyes.

He stared down at her with a stern look on his face, "I think we need to discuss something…" he began.

Samara just bowed down her head, letting her long hair frame her face. It's going to be a long _discussion_.

XXX

"OW!" Kairi yelped in pain as she landed face-first on some grassy surface. "oooh… my nose…" she sniffed as she sat up and rubbed her nose, hoping that it wasn't bleeding. She looked up at the night sky. "Gee… where am I?" she asked out loud as she slowly got up and dusted herself. "Ew…" she muttered, feeling that her hands, knees and legs were already soiled. She swallowed hard, shivering because of the cold evening air. "Gotta get going…" she thought before proceeding to walk until she finally reached Kalm. "Gee… looks very different from where I came from…" she said softly as she began to wonder about the time because she saw that it was already dark in the whole town… and there were no streetlights. She swallowed hard. "Okay… I think it's already past midnight… but I hope that there are people who like to stay up late!" she thought nervously as she proceeded to look for a house with a lit window… until she arrived at a certain country house. It was small but looked rather homey. She stared curiously at the window with the lit room. "I hope they're nice…" she thought nervously before stepping onto the front porch…

XXX

Cloud couldn't sleep for a reason that he couldn't understand, so he just sat by the bed watching Sora sleep. He sighed heavily as he turned away from the boy, deciding to go to the other room and check on Vincent and Riku. When he arrived there, he saw that the two were sleeping peacefully, with Riku's head resting on Vincent's shoulder and his arm draped over Vincent's chest. Cloud fought the urge to smile and laugh as he turned away to go back to his own room where he left Sora for a while, but stopped in his tracks when he heard someone knocking on the front door downstairs. He checked the clock and it read 2:30 am. Wondering who it was, he decided to just go downstairs to check… and as he opened the door, he was surprised to see a young girl with reddish-mahogany hair and blue eyes staring up at him in awe. Cloud gaped at her. "…Yuffie?" he asked in shock, wondering why Yuffie suddenly looked shorter than usual.

Kairi blinked. "Uncle Cloud!" she exclaimed.

Silence.

Cloud backed off. "Oh no… not another one!" he cried out in confusion before running upstairs, leaving the front door open with Kairi there wondering what she should do.

"Cloud, what's going on! You just woke me up!" Kairi heard a young lady's voice complain from upstairs. Kairi's face lit up when she recognized the voice. "Mommy!" she squealed in excitement.

"Did I hear Kairi?" she heard Sora asked sleepily, and then someone just started to descend the stairs. It was him, alright. Kairi smiled happily. "Sora!" she said happily as she ran to him. "Kairi!" the two embraced tightly, happy to see each other again. "Oh I'm so glad you're safe!" she said happily.

"Of course I'm safe! Dad's just here! Your mommy's here too!" Sora told her.

"Really?" Kairi asked.

In a few moments, Cloud descended the stairs again, but this time, he was dragging along a sleepy-looking Yuffie Kisaragi wearing a loose green shirt and dark blue jogging pants. "Wha-… Cloud, let me go!" Yuffie wailed impatiently, but she froze when she saw Kairi. She turned to Sora, "Oh. Is she a girlfriend?" she asked innocently.

"Mommy!" Kairi cried out as she let go of Sora and rushed to Yuffie to embrace her. Cloud let her go so that the young girl could hug Yuffie.

Yuffie felt the color drain from her face as Kairi hugged her.

"I'm curious to know who the father is." Cloud told Sora with a slight smile on his face.

"Oh, it's…" Sora began, but Yuffie screeched, eventually waking up the whole house…

"Kairi, I think you'd better… stay away from her for a while…" Sora said, pulling Kairi away from the younger version of her mother. "But… but… but…" Kairi began with tears in her eyes.

Yuffie dusted herself. "OH GROSSNESS! For crying out loud! I'm still in my teens! I can't have a daughter like you? And what's with the red hair!" she demanded in shock, thinking of all possible redhead boys she had encountered in her entire life… and she could only think of the bum next door and Reno of the Turks. She wanted to faint. Kairi blinked. "Oh no, mommy! This is just hair color! My hair's actually like yours!" she pointed out with a sweet smile on her face.

"You _color_ your hair!" Yuffie exclaimed in confusion.

"Yes! It's required of me to do so for Kingdom Hearts!" Kairi replied.

"Kingdom what! OH MY GAWD! This kid is talking nonsense!" Yuffie clutched her head in confusion.

"Come on, Yuffie, don't you wanna know who your future husband is?" Cloud asked her as he crossed his arms. Kairi was about to say something, as if ready to point out who her father is, but Yuffie screeched again, "ACK! No, no, no, no, no! It's bad! I don't wanna hear it! What if my marriage is forced!" she snapped.

Kairi blinked. "Mommy, I'm sure you married daddy by choice because you both loved each other!" she pointed out with a confused look on her face.

"Kairi, maybe you should stop calling her _mommy_ for a while. You're just confusing her further." Riku told her as he got down from the second floor.

"Riku!" Kairi said in surprise.

"But why? I call _him_ dad!" Sora pointed out as he pointed a finger at Cloud. Cloud raised his eyebrows at the boy. Riku shook his head. "Well my dad says that Uncle Cloud is level-headed anyway and just shuts his pipehole instead of reacting violently; but Auntie Yuffie? Nah-uh. She even cusses in Wutaian if she wants to whenever she's really angry at something." Riku pointed out.

Silence.

Yuffie growled something in Wutaian… and only Kairi was able to understand. "Okay… there goes… she said _the_ _F word_." She muttered softly.

Cloud tapped Riku's shoulder, "What did your dad say about me?" he asked in confusion.

"Oh you know he…" Riku began, but Sora just signaled for him to stop because Vincent, Barret, Marlene and Red XIII were all looking at them curiously.

The room was silent for a few moments and only the crickets from outside could be heard. "OH MY GAWD! I DON'T KNOW WHAT'S HAPPENING!" Yuffie shrieked again before finally passing out. "Mommy!" Kairi exclaimed as she rushed to the younger version of her mother who was lying on the floor.

Vincent just scratched his head. "I'm going back to bed… come on, Riku. You need to rest." He said as he ascended the stairs again. Riku took one last look at Kairi and Yuffie before following after Vincent. "Okay." He responded.

Cloud stared down at Yuffie with a sleepy look on his face while shaking his head in confusion. "You kids really owe us a big explanation tomorrow…" he muttered before proceeding upstairs. Passing by the door of Tifa's room, he realized that she was still inside and didn't even come down to see what was happening. "I thought she's a light-sleeper?" he thought… and then the door opened. She was rubbing her eyes sleepily as she was yawning. "What's going on?" she asked him. "I heard Yuffie scream several times…" she continued.

Cloud just shrugged and gestured towards the stairs. "Yuffie's… future daughter is here. Better stay awake. Yours could be the next one to arrive." He told her with a sarcastic tone before proceeding to his own room.

Tifa blinked in confusion before turning to the stairs upon hearing Barret complaining about carrying Yuffie. "Darn foo'…"

Barret reached the second floor and Tifa followed him with her curious gaze as she remained standing by the door of her room… and then she was surprised to see Sora and Marlene trailing behind him… with Red XIII and another girl. Tifa was overwhelmed when she saw the new girl.

Kairi noticed Tifa looking at her in awe so she turned to her and smiled sweetly, "Hello Auntie Tifa!" she greeted before following after Barret who was carrying Yuffie back to her own room.

Tifa swallowed hard and just went back inside her room to sleep, hoping that if ever she really has future children, they wouldn't come to the present to haunt her.


	4. Four

Kids

* * *

Four 

"You're up early," Riku told Sora as he joined him in the kitchen. "Yep. Everyone's still asleep. Probably because of the commotion we caused last night with Auntie Yuffie." Sora replied as he opened the refrigerator to look at the food there. "I think they won't be up until noontime, so we'd better fix ourselves our own breakfast." He continued.

"Where's Kairi?" Riku asked as he sat down on one of the chairs and observed Sora as he rummaged through the refrigerator.

"She slept in Auntie Yuffie's room last night. Well she wanted to be with her mommy. So what do you want for breakfast?" Sora asked.

"Waffles?" Riku asked.

"They don't have it. I even checked the cupboards a while ago." Sora replied.

"Do they have jam?" Riku asked.

"Nope."

"Raisin loaf?"

"Nah-uh."

"Pancakes?"

"None of those."

"And let me guess… no hash browns too huh?" Riku retorted as he clenched his fists. "What kind of house is this! They don't have food!" he snapped impatiently.

"Well they're not really as well-off as they will be in the future. Remember we're in the past, Riku," Sora said patiently as he brought out some eggs. "I could scramble these." He decided.

Riku just rolled his eyes and crossed his arms. "Damn. Oh well, I've got money here. We can buy our food someplace else." He told him.

"What's going on?" Kairi asked as she stepped inside the kitchen.

Sora turned to her as he readied the stove and the frying pan. "Riku is expecting that he's gonna have ShinRa breakfast today. Haha!" he pointed out.

"ShinRa breakfast?" Kairi laughed. "Riku, we're in the wrong place and time." She said before proceeding to help Sora in cooking breakfast. "They're not as rich as they are from where we came from." She added.

Riku just rolled his eyes. "Well are eggs the only food they have here?" he asked impatiently. "Well not really. I think they have stale bread over there…" Sora replied, pointing at the breadbin on the kitchen counter. "Ew! Do you think they still eat that?" Kairi reacted in disgust before approaching the breadbin and inspected the bread. "It even has molds in it…" she muttered. Riku got up from his seat and went over to the refrigerator while Sora proceeded in beating the eggs in a bowl. "Lemme at that refrigerator. I'm gonna find something edible for all of us here." Riku told them as he opened the refrigerator and inspected. One of the plastic containers there had a block of cheese in it but the plastic container itself had a long strip of masking tape to serve as a label and on it was the name _Cloud_. "Looks like Uncle Cloud really loves cheese…" he muttered. "You think we can have some of these?" he asked them.

Sora gasped. "Oh no! Don't! Dad's really into his cheese! If you touch it and you're not a Strife, he'll get angry!" he warned.

Riku blinked. "It's just cheese!" he pointed out.

"Exactly. And my dad loves it. If there's cheese in the refrigerator at home and it belongs to him, he'll only allow me, my younger sister and my mommy to eat it _with his consent_. If you're not related to him, he'll get angry!" Sora explained.

Riku was quiet for a while before rolling his eyes in frustration, deciding to look for other food inside the refrigerator. "Hmf. And I didn't bring Paopu fruits with me…" he muttered miserably. "I'm going to starve." He snapped impatiently before slamming the refrigerator door shut, surprising the two.

"What's going on?" Tifa asked sleepily as she arrived from the stairs. Riku just stared at her with a frown on his face, scanning her appearance from head to toe. He shook his head in annoyance. "Look at her! She's so different from where we come from!" he protested at Sora and Kairi.

Tifa blinked. "Huh?" she wondered.

"Of course she's different." Kairi replied.

"What do you mean?" Tifa asked in confusion.

Riku turned back to her, "I'm… not used to seeing you wearing _rags_." He said directly. Sora and Kairi knows how frank Riku can be and that attitude of his had caused him so much trouble in several instances… and they could not believe that he just had to be frank with their _auntie_ Tifa.

Tifa, on the other hand, was mortified. "I beg your pardon?" she demanded in shock. She knows that her clothes aren't that presentable but those are the only decent ones she has at that moment. It was her usual get-up: the white sleeveless top and the black mini skirt. Except that she's not wearing her arm-warmers, fighting gloves, her boots, her socks, her belt and her suspenders; but she had slippers on.

"Isn't it, _Auntie_ Tifa? Look at yourself! You look like a…" Riku was about to say a really _mean_ noun… the _meanest noun to refer to Tifa_… but he stopped and just reacted in pain when Kairi bonked his head with a frying pan. "RIKU!" she screeched in panic.

Tifa was just stunned, staring unbelievably at Riku, "What the bloody hell are you saying!" she demanded in disbelief. Riku rubbed the back of his head with his right hand. "Ow…Kairi! What's wrong with saying that she looks like a sl—…" he stopped when Sora signaled for him to zip his mouth.

But Tifa understood. She felt so offended… and it came from a 15 year-old. She frowned at Riku, narrowing her eyes at him. Riku raised his eyebrows at her. "What?" he asked innocently, not knowing why she's suddenly angry. She just approached him and slapped his face.

Everyone was quiet because of shock and mortification. "You are really the son of Sephiroth. Whoever your mother is, she should teach you some manners to respect ladies!" Tifa snapped angrily with a trembling voice before marching up the stairs again.

The three youngsters were silent as if taking time to accept the reality that just happened. Riku felt the whole room spinning around him. "_Farking_ hell!" he cursed. "Riku, that's enough!" Kairi told him. "I didn't say the F word directly! I used an alternative!" he retorted. She just rolled her eyes. "Now look what you've done! She's angry!" she pointed out.

Riku just crossed his arms and didn't say anything.

Sora shook his head in dismay, "Now look what you've done, Riku! You just ruined your chance with Samara!" he told him.

The room fell silent. Riku growled, "AAARGH!" and ran to Sora, grabbing his shoulders and shaking him violently, "Now what shall I do! Auntie Tifa will hate me forever and I can never play with Theodore ever again… or even hang out with Samara!" he cried out in panic.

"Hey, hey, hey! Calm down!" Sora said, trying to push Riku away from himself. Kairi pulled Riku away from Sora. "Riku!" she exclaimed.

Riku clutched his head. "ARGH!" he screamed in annoyance, making his two friends cringe. "Hush, Riku! You're going to wake them up!" Sora told him as he shook Riku violently. "Just take him outside!" Kairi suggested with a panicky look on her face. Sora instantly grabbed Riku's hand and dragged him outside the house.

Kairi took a deep breath and exhaled slowly, shuddering in the process. She could still hear Riku's screams of anger and confusion.

"That kid's got issues," Tifa was saying as she was going down the stairs again. This time, she was wearing a green robe over her normal clothing, but it was rather too small for her. The length was a few inches above her knee and the sleeves were a bit shorter than her arms. Kairi stared curiously at her. Tifa stared back at the young girl and smiled kindly, "…what's wrong?" she asked. Kairi smiled sheepishly and shook her head, "N…nothing! I'm just… not used to seeing you dressed like that." She admitted flatly. "Well… this is not even my robe. It's Yuffie's. I just borrowed it. So, what kind of clothes are you used to seeing me into?" Tifa asked as she decided to take over the cooking. "Just sit over there. I'll take it from here." She instructed Kairi. As Kairi headed over to a chair, she responded, "I'm used to seeing you wearing designer dresses and suits."

Tifa almost got herself burned as she was lighting the stove with a match. "…What?" she asked in disbelief before turning around to look at Kairi in shock. Kairi blinked, realizing that she has said too much. She shook her head. "You didn't hear anything from me!" she told her.

Tifa blinked. "But I just did!" she said.

"…no you didn't." Kairi blurted out, looking away. "I'd better check on Sora and Riku." She said as she got up, but Tifa stopped her, "Oh no, you're staying here!" she said sternly. Kairi stopped in her tracks and sat down again rather obediently. Tifa began to scramble the eggs in the frying pan. "You and those two boys have caused so much havoc in this household ever since the first one of you three arrived here." She said.

"…we know that, Auntie Tifa." Kairi explained with a disappointed tone like she was being scolded upon. She sniffed.

Tifa turned to look at her. "Aw c'mon, don't cry!" she said with a look of disbelief on her face. Kairi sniffed again. Her eyes were already watery. "…I'm sorry… it's just that I haven't been scolded by you before… it just feels… bad…" and she began to cry.

Tifa's heart sank but she just tried her best to keep calm, "Oh dear… please don't cry!" she pleaded.

"What did you do? You made her cry!" Barret told Tifa as he arrived from upstairs. He still looked sleepy but it seemed like he has been disturbed from his slumber… probably because of the noise Riku was making outside. Tifa finished scrambling the eggs and placed them on a big plate before turning to face Kairi and Barret. Barret was already comforting the girl. Tifa shook her head. "I… don't know why she's crying." Tifa said, confused.

"Uncle Barret… is Auntie Tifa mad at me?" Kairi asked as she hugged him with a sad look on her face and wiping her tears away.

Barret looked up at Tifa. "Are you angry at Kairi?" he asked.

"I am not angry at Kairi. I was just telling her how things had started to go wrong ever since they arrived here!" she stated flatly.

"Darn foo'! You're blamin' her and her friends! No wonder she feels guilty! I wonder what kind of parent you'll become in the future… if ever you become one! With that kind of attitude of yours, Teef, I don't think you'll be such a good parent!" he told her with a scolding tone.

Tifa just stared at him in disbelief. "Barret, Kairi is not a child. She's… what's your age again?" she asked, turning to Kairi.

"14." She replied with a trembling tone.

"You see? She's 14!" Tifa said.

"Well she must've been raised in a different way! In the city, if a girl is 14, she's already starting to mature but Kairi here seems different. She must've grown up in another place." Barret said while patting the girl's head. "Tell me, where were you born?" he asked gently.

She sniffed. "…Midgar… but a day after I was born, Grampa and mommy took me to Destiny Islands. It's where I grew up." She replied.

Barret and Tifa were silent for a while. "Where's your daddy?" the latter asked.

"Grampa didn't like him at first because he wasn't well-off like Grampa and mommy. My daddy's a SOLDIER." She replied.

Tifa's eyes widened in surprise. "A SOLDIER?" she asked in disbelief.

Kairi nodded.

They were unaware that Yuffie, Cloud and Vincent were listening from the stairs. Yuffie was already shaking in doubt, fear and confusion before looking up at Cloud. Cloud just frowned at her, "Don't even think that _I_ will be your husband." He muttered miserably with a threatening tone. Yuffie shook her head. "No. I'm just… friggin' confused! Who _is he_!" she cried out in annoyance before rushing to the kitchen. "Awright, kiddo! I will not believe that you are my daughter until you show me concrete proof NOW!" Yuffie demanded, surprising Kairi and the rest.

Kairi swallowed hard, staring up at Yuffie. "…I… can have my DNA tested if you want to!" she presented nervously.

"No. I want proof now!" Yuffie told her sternly with a shaky tone. Kairi blinked back her tears. "But… I might do something drastic for the future…" she thought nervously. "Oh where are Riku and Sora when I need them!" she thought to herself as she looked up at Tifa and then to Barret.

x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x

Rufus was already having a migraine. He was clutching his head while his elbow rested on top of his desk. Sephiroth, Cloud and Yuffie were seated on the couch across his desk while Samara sat on a separate chair with her hands resting on top of her lap and staring regretfully at her father. "Are you mad at me, daddy?" she asked softly.

"I'm not mad; I'm disappointed." Rufus wanted to say out loud but he just decided to shut up. "Cloud," he began.

His External Vice-President turned to him with an inquiring look on his face. "Where's my wife?" Rufus asked, dragging his tone. His head was really aching. "Aerith already called her. She'll be home from the bar soon." Cloud told him. Sephiroth crossed his arms and stared disappointedly at Samara. "You turned your friends into Science experiments…" he told her with a low and serious tone. But she was unaffected by it. She just shrugged. "They'll be back." She told him.

"How can you reassure that they'll be back safely without causing any harm to the past which will affect the present?" Sephiroth yelled at her angrily.

"Hey. Don't yell at my daughter!" Rufus snapped at him.

"How would you feel if she transported your other children to the past?" Sephiroth sneered.

Yuffie just sat still, staring pitifully at Samara. "It was an accident… I guess… even though… I don't think we can do anything about it right now…" she muttered. But Samara could read her mind… and she was suppressing anger.

Samara lowered her gaze to the floor. "Do you really want to know where their physical bodies are?" she asked. Everyone turned to her.

o-o-o

"Theodore!"

The 10 year-old blonde and brown-eyed boy looked up from his reading material when he heard his father knocking on the door and calling his name. Blinking in confusion, he looked at the clock. It was only 10 in the evening and his father is already out of the office and wants to talk to him? He shrugged the thought off his concerns and put down the book that he was reading before rushing to the door. When he opened it, he was surprised to see his father alongside his Uncle Sephiroth, Uncle Cloud and Auntie Yuffie… and Samara was behind them with her hair covering her face. Theodore raised his eyebrow at his twin sister before looking up at his father, "Yes, daddy?" he asked, trying to sound innocent, even though he knows what the matter is all about because of the presence of his twin at the same area.

"Step aside." Rufus instructed sternly. Theodore moved away from the door and let his father and the rest inside the bedroom.

"Doing your homework?" Rufus asked, trying to sound casual as he went over to the closets.

"Just reading a novel…" Theodore replied as he turned to his twin. Samara just walked up beside him and stood by him as they watched their father open the closet. "I warned you. It's not a pretty sight." Samara told them warningly with a slight smile on her face.

Once the closet was opened, the adults were surprised and their eyes widened in terror. In unison, they screamed their children's names while staring horridly at the bodies inside the closet. Rufus was just silent, his mouth slightly open in shock.

"They're not dead. They're just asleep." Theodore told them to keep them calm. But it didn't help. Rufus turned to his son, "You're with Samara!" he demanded in disbelief.

"Well she needed help on where to put the bodies." Theodore responded coolly with a cheerful smile on his face.

Sephiroth scooped up the sleeping Riku into his arms. "Damn… he's really asleep!" he muttered before dropping him roughly on the divan by the foot of the bed and shook him. "Riku! Wake up!" he snapped.

"Don't wake him up!" Samara cried out as she rushed to them and got hold of Sephiroth's hands that were shaking Riku violently. Sephiroth glared at the little girl. "You've already caused enough trouble. You should be grounded!" he snarled.

"I'm warning you, if you wake him up at this state, he will die. Kairi has to find him and Sora first to be able to go back here." She told him with a serious look on her face.

"But… Kairi is alive?" Yuffie asked hopefully.

"Of course she's alive, Auntie Yuffie! Samzy's not mean enough to kill her friends! Right, Samzy?" Theodore asked cheerfully, turning to his twin sister. Samara just kept quiet, staring blankly at Riku's sleeping face. Cloud took out the sleeping Sora from the closet. "I guess he'll be… staying here in ShinRa for a while…" he said with a tone that seemed to falter. "Although I don't know how to explain this to Aerith…" he muttered as he placed Sora on Theodore's bed before turning back to Kairi, helping Yuffie carry her daughter. He placed her beside Sora.

"GAWDS! Zack's gonna be looking for her once I get home! What will I tell him!" Yuffie cried out in confusion.

"Tell your husband your kid's like Sleeping Beauty and she needs a Prince to wake her up." Sephiroth said sarcastically.

"OH MY GAWD!" Yuffie screeched in panic, making Rufus cringe and snap back to his senses. He turned to the door when he sensed that his wife was already there. "…T…Tifa," he began.

The woman was wearing a white corporate suit similar to Rufus's except that she was wearing a skirt and her brown eyes were eyeing the unconscious children in shock.

Samara could easily read what's on her mother's mind. "They're not dead, mommy." She told her.

"…What happened… to them?" Tifa asked in confusion.

Behind her, Aerith arrived carrying Tifa's handbag which she had almost left inside the limousine upon hurrying inside the lobby to see what was going on and why they were suddenly summoned back to ShinRa. Aerith accidentally dropped the bag to the floor when she saw Sora unconscious. "Oh… Sora…" she instantly ran inside and rushed to her son's side. "What happened to him?" she asked with a trembling voice.

Yuffie turned to Samara, "Awright, tell me how they're going to wake up again!" she snapped impatiently.

"I gave Kairi my necklace. If she finds Sora and Riku and they're ready to come back here, she can just hold it and call my name and then I can go and fetch them." She told them.

"Why didn't you do that in the first place when Sora was the first one who went missing!" Sephiroth demanded impatiently.

"Because I don't have a close link with him! It's either Riku or Kairi!" Samara protested before taking a deep breath and proceeded, "When Riku went to follow and look for Sora, he refused to take my necklace with him because he's confident he can go back on his own." She bowed down her head. "I'm sorry for causing too much trouble." She muttered miserably, clenching her fists. Aerith smiled softly and approached her, patting her shoulders gently as she knelt down before her. "I trust you, Samara." She said softly.

Samara refused to look at her Auntie Aerith.

Rufus's facial expression softened a little as his headache started to ease off slowly as he looked at his daughter. "Where exactly did you transport them?" he asked. Samara didn't answer so Theodore did, "Kalm. Some 20 or so years ago when Auntie Aerith, Uncle Sephiroth and the rest of the dead guys haven't returned yet."

Everyone fell silent. They suddenly had a bad feeling about themselves and the situation.

Tifa fainted.

"Damn." Rufus muttered as he rushed to her. "Could somebody call the Turks?" he instructed. Cloud sighed heavily while staring at Sora and dialing the number of the Turk Lounge from his mobile phone.

Meanwhile, Samara was beginning to get worried. "I hope Kairi is able to find Sora and Riku…" she thought silently as she stared at Riku's face with a worried look on her face. She mindlessly took his hand and squeezed it gently. "I hope you're okay…" she thought.


	5. Five

Kids

* * *

Five

Riku turned to his right hand when he suddenly felt something cold brush against it. He rubbed his hand with his other hand. "It's not even cold." He muttered.

"You alright now?" Sora asked curiously when he suddenly noticed that Riku had stopped complaining. Riku just kept quiet before proceeding back to the house again. "Looks like we'll be stuck here for days… so I have to get used to their lifestyle and food!" he thought in annoyance, finally accepting reality. Sora followed after him, glad that Riku has calmed down already. Once they got inside, they stopped in their tracks when they noticed that Kairi was being forcefully interrogated by the adults. All eyes turned to them and stared curiously at them. Kairi swallowed hard before reaching for her pocket and pulled out a materia. The Bahamut Materia.

"How did you get… THAT!" Yuffie demanded in shock as she checked her materia slots. Her own Bahamut materia was still there… but how come Kairi has it too? It's the only one in the entire Planet!

"Where… how…!" Barret said in disbelief.

"…Mommy gave it to me as a present when I started training as a ninja in Wutai." Kairi explained before smiling sweetly at Yuffie. "_You_ gave it to me in the future." She pointed out.

"OH MY GAWD!" Yuffie reacted in shock and confusion as she turned away and ran back upstairs again.

"I think I believe them…" Vincent said, shivering slightly before turning to Sora again. Sora blinked while patting Red XIII's head who had just approached him to say hello. "I don't know why you don't believe these young ones. I can smell Aerith and Cloud in this boy; I can smell Yuffie and… some foreign unfamiliar scent from Kairi… and I can smell Vincent and some other unfamiliar scent from Riku." Red explained.

Silence.

"Vincent?" Tifa asked, wanting to be sure.

"Vincent? … is your father?" Barret asked Riku.

Riku's eyes widened and he looked away.

"I thought you said you're Sephiroth's son!" Vincent demanded in shock; his face went paler than usual.

"Is there something you're not telling us, kid?" Barret demanded in disbelief.

Riku shoved his hands inside the pockets of his pants. "Erm… well… okay… so my real parents are _Lucrecia_ _and_ _Vincent_…" he began.

Vincent's mouth dropped open and his eyes widened in shock, but before anyone else could interrupt him, Riku continued, "BUT—something happened along the way."

Everyone was silent as if anticipating the explanation. Riku could tell that they're still speechless.

"Sephiroth is my old half-brother. During _your_ wedding to Lucrecia, Sephy accidentally bonked his head and then he started to think that you are a woman… and he fell in-love with you and took you away with him… but don't worry you still managed to stay with Lucrecia every other weekend… and so you still managed to have five children with her, and I'm the youngest… but then Sephiroth thinks that you were the one who gave birth although I think it's highly impossible because you're a man… but we were all raised with you and Sephiroth in the Valentine Mansion in Sector 1, Midgar… and Sephiroth wanted us to think that he's our father and you're our mother, but no, we're not stupid; we can observe things and of course we found out by ourselves so we just act around him." Riku explained to Vincent.

Vincent's eyes began to water because of so much mixed emotions.

"But how come you look like Sephiroth!" Tifa asked in confusion, staring unbelievably at Riku's silver hair and green eyes. "Oh. Blame it on Mako and JENOVA. It's already in mommy's system. But not to worry though; only three of us have silver hair: myself, and my two older brothers Dante and Kuja." He explained with a proud smile on his face.

"Oh!" Vincent reacted before finally passing out.

"Darn foo's! I knew Sephiroth's really insane!" Barret reacted.

"But who is your father, Kairi?" Tifa asked, turning to Kairi. Kairi smiled proudly. "His name is Zack!"

Cloud and Tifa jaw-dropped. "Hu-whaaaat!" they reacted in unison.

Kairi blinked. "What's wrong?" she asked.

"Hey dad, you wanna see our family picture?" Sora asked happily.

Cloud held his hand at Sora to stop him. "No… please… no. Stop it! Just tell me how to get Aerith back, please!" he demanded.

Sora blinked. "…I don't know." He replied.

"We're not allowed to further cause damage here so that our future wouldn't be affected once we get back to where we originally came from." Riku pointed out.

"It's useless! We've already done enough damage! They already know who and what their children are going to be!" Kairi told her friends.

Sora and Riku exchanged glances before turning back to Kairi. "…you're right… damn…" Riku began.

"I'm confused." Cloud muttered. The three youngsters turned to him with inquiring stares. He frowned at them while pointing accusingly at their faces, "The three of you are here because of…?" he asked, wanting to make sure.

"Samara…" Riku responded after a moment of silence.

"And who is Samara?" Barret asked calmly.

"Isn't she a character from a horror movie?" Tifa asked, blinking in confusion.

"…I think _you_ based her name from _that_ movie." Sora said. "Me?" she asked.

"She's your daughter… your second daughter." Kairi explained.

"I have two daughters?" Tifa asked, raising her eyebrows.

"Actually, there are three." Riku said. "And two boys." Kairi added. Tifa's eyes widened. "_Five_ children!" she demanded in disbelief.

"Two sets of twins and then the youngest is solo." Sora explained. "Anyway, back to _your_ evil little daughter," Riku said, sneering, wanting to scare Tifa just in case. "When Sora ended up here, she had me follow him." He continued. "And Samara made me follow after Riku so that I can contact her if we've found one another already." Kairi added.

"How come you cannot go back to where you came from with her help?" Barret asked.

"Samara gave me her pendant… the confidential thing she owns that marks her as a…" Kairi stopped herself before she could say Samara's surname. "…uhm… _I forgot her surname_. My bad." She lied as she reached for her pocket to get Samara's pendant… but she was unsuccessful. It was missing. Her eyes widened in shock. "Oh no!" she cried out in panic.

"What?" Riku asked, turning to her, sensing that something is wrong.

"I… lost the pendant!" she responded with a worried look on her face.

Sora and Riku were quiet, staring dumbfoundedly at Kairi. She just smiled sheepishly at them as she swallowed hard. "I… must've dropped it somewhere in the place where I landed when I arrived here!" she stated flatly.

"What can the pendant do anyway?" Cloud asked.

"I have to hold it and talk to her through my mind if we want to go back. Then I don't know what will happen. It's her ability." She explained.

Riku clenched his fists, "You lost the pendant!" he demanded in annoyance. Kairi jerked in surprise. "…I'll go find it right now, I promise!" she said nervously when she saw anger build up in his eyes before dashing out of the house. "Kairi!" Sora called out, following after her.

Riku just stood still, clenching his teeth in total impatience. "…I can't believe this is happening! What if that pendant gets lost forever and we'll be stuck here _forever_! And we can only stay here for a maximum of seven days… otherwise the future will be permanently changed!" he complained in annoyance before he started to pace back and forth.

"Seven days?" Cloud asked.

Riku stopped and turned to him. "It's Samara's style. She loves the number seven as much as her parents love it." He told them.

"You love the number seven," Barret told Tifa while trying to wake Vincent up. "Hey foo'!" he shook Vincent lightly. "Oh don't mind him. He'll come around later on when he's calm. He does that all the time in my time." Riku told Barret.

Cloud swallowed hard. He had just decided on something… and whether he likes it or not, he had to make that decision. Turning to Tifa and Barret, he began, "We have to help those kids find that pendant. If they cannot come back to their time…"

Tifa and Barret stared strangely at Cloud, but the former was the only one who got the message right when he trailed off. She smiled calmly at him. "There will be no Aerith." She figured out silently before patting Cloud's shoulder. "You guys stay here. I'll go on and help the kids." She told him before rushing upstairs to put on some decent clothing.

Cloud was surprised at her. Riku sighed heavily. "I'll go with her." He decided.

"No, you just stay here. We still have a lot more questions to ask you of." Barret instructed. Riku frowned but obeyed, sitting down on a chair and crossing his arms.

Tifa finally came down from the stairs dressed in black. "Aren't you going to eat breakfast first?" Red XIII asked her.

"Nah. This is urgent matter. Besides, I'm interested to know who my future husband will be!" she said with a wink before leaving.

Everyone was silent for a while before turning to Riku. "Could you give us any clue on whom Tifa got hitched to?" Barret asked curiously.

Riku shrugged. "Well… I could describe her future children and then you can guess from there." He said playfully with a sly smile on his face. "Well shoot." Barret told him, ready for the challenge while Cloud went to the refrigerator to get his cheese. Riku thought for a while before saying, "Well… their first set of twins… a girl and a boy. The girl is a superstar and she's… such a Prima Donna! She's the only one in the family with the Midgarian accent because of the influence of the media in Midgar… after all, she is an actress and voted one of the sexiest women in the Planet. Her twin was believed to be retarded so he was sent away to study in another place but he proved himself to be much more extra special so he's now the vice president. He's got Blonde hair and blue eyes… and then the next set of twins: Theodore and Samara. Theodore has blonde hair and she has Auntie Tifa's eyes. He's very cheerful and he's always laughing… then there's Samara, his complete opposite. Quite resembles so much of her mommy when it comes to her looks but she's got blue eyes… and she's really very strange but still likeable." Riku had a smile on his face, puzzling the others.

"Go on…" Cloud urged.

Riku cleared his throat, "And then there's the youngest, Lavinia. She bites people. She's like Little Miss Ray-of-Sunshine. Another kiddie version of Auntie Tifa but she's got blonde hair."

"I'm pretty sure their father isn't Cloud even though Cloud has blonde hair," Red XIII pointed out with a skeptical look in his eyes. Cloud glared at Red with a look of disbelief in his eyes.

Barret blinked. "I don't get it!" he told Riku.

"Well… she married the most unlikely of all people." Riku explained. Cloud was quiet, putting all the clues together in his head. And his mouth dropped open in awe. "Just don't tell her…at least for now." Riku told him upon realizing that he got the answer already."

Cloud took a deep breath and nodded with a disturbed look on his face.

"…or don't ever tell her… EVER! Let her find out for herself!" Riku added quickly before Cloud could make a comment.

Cloud just blinked and slowly turned away, "I… think I need some fresh air…" and he slowly walked outside, leaving the others.

x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x

"This is where I landed, I know!" Kairi pointed out to Sora and Tifa.

"But this is a vast field!" Tifa said.

"Oh no… if we lose that pendant, we're stuck here forever and the future will completely change!" Sora said with a worried look on his face.

"Don't worry… we'll find it." Tifa said with a determined look on her face as she began to search on the ground. Kairi and Sora quietly observed her with weird looks on their faces. She was basically crawling on the dirty soil and searching for a pendant. "How does it look like anyway?" she asked.

"It's… heart-shaped and it's silver. It has…" Sora trailed off when he almost gave off the name of the logo that is engraved on the front part of the pendant.

"It has what?" Tifa asked.

"Some Wutaian characters in the front." Kairi saved.

Sora breathed out a sigh of relief.

"Well I don't read and understand Wutaian." Tifa pointed out.

"But it's very identifiable. Believe me, you'll know once you see it." Kairi said convincingly.

"What's the logo for?" Tifa asked.

Sora urged Kairi to help Tifa so she did. Sora began to search someplace else. "It's your future family's symbol. Like a Coat-of-Arms." Kairi responded with a weak smile on her face.

"Gee… I must've really married a very rich and powerful man from where you came from, huh?" Tifa asked, but she was still completely clueless. Kairi just shrugged. "Well… you got it! He's really rich and really powerful!" she pointed out.

"Not to mention, influential. He's like the king!" Sora added.

"Interesting," Tifa said before she felt something hard against her right knee. She lifted her knee off the spot where she felt the hard object and saw a heart-shaped pendant. She picked it up and frowned when she easily recognized the ShinRa logo engraved on the front. She turned it over and saw some barcodes also etched on it. "Ew. ShinRa." She instantly threw it away over her shoulder, not caring where it landed, and then she started searching again for other pendants on the ground.

Sora and Kairi noticed her reaction. "What did you find, Auntie Tifa?" the former asked.

"Some silver pendant with ShinRa on it. But I threw it away." Tifa replied.

The youngsters fell silent as they stared in horror at Tifa. "WHY DID YOU THROW IT AWAY!" Sora cried out in shock.

"It's ShinRa crap! Surely you're not searching for anything ShinRa, correct?" Tifa asked mindlessly as she proceeded in her own merry way to find another pendant.

Kairi felt the world spinning around her. "Oh no…" she wailed.

"Why?" Tifa asked cluelessly.

Kairi suddenly remembered what Samara said, "Never ever mention ShinRa." She just sighed heavily. "…Nothing, Auntie Tifa." She said softly.

"Where exactly did you throw it?" Sora asked, approaching Tifa. Tifa thought for a while before shrugging, "Didn't really care where. I just threw it over my shoulder. After all, it's ShinRa… so why should I care?" she asked before proceeding to search.

Sora felt his knees getting weaker, but he didn't say anything else, so did Kairi. They just watched Tifa search with a helpless look in their eyes. Sora and Kairi exchanged hopeless looks but they were interrupted when Tifa cried out in exasperation and got up, dusting herself. "This is pointless. I'm going back to Kalm and get Red XIII. I think we're going to need his help." She told them.

The two were just quiet.

"You guys are going to be okay here? I'll be back in a jiffy." She told them.

The two just nodded.

Tifa wondered why the two were suddenly quiet. "Well… alright…" and then ran off back onto the road going to Kalm.

When they knew that she was already too far away from them, Kairi began to cry and Sora let himself collapse backward to the ground.

"I can't believe her!" Kairi said in disappointment as she wiped her tears away.

Sora just looked up at the clouds as he felt the air blow against his face. "Well… that's Auntie Tifa… same as always…" he decided.

"This is harder than I thought! We can't say _ShinRa_ and it's the ultimate clue on how we're going to find the pendant!" she said with a frustrated look on her face. Sora sat up and sighed heavily. "I wish my dad's the one who came with us here instead… he understand things better, I guess… even if he acts like he doesn't." he said softly with a sad look on his face.

"Or my mommy… she's good in hunting and finding lost stuff." Kairi said with a sad look on her face.

"Aw, don't cry, Kairi," Sora said with a sad smile on his face as he got up and gave her a comforting hug.

"Hey, what are you kids doing here? You lost or something?"

Their eyes widened when they heard an awfully-familiar voice from behind them. They turned around as a shadow loomed over them. Their eyes widened. "Mister Reno!"

x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x

This time, on her way back to the vast field where she left Kairi and Sora, Tifa brought along Red XIII with Cloud and Riku. Upon arriving there, they realized that Sora and Kairi were not there anymore.

"I thought you left them here?" Riku asked with a frown on his face.

"I did. But… where are they?" Tifa asked with a confused look on her face.

Cloud shook his head impatiently and began to mosey around the area. "Sora!" he called out with a worried look on his face.

"Gee… maybe they started looking for the pendant that I found but I threw it away… Oh well… They could be around the area somewhere." Tifa said mindlessly with an optimistic look on her face.

Riku's eyes widened as he turned to her, "What?" he demanded.

"Well I found this pendant a while ago with ShinRa on it but I figured it wouldn't be the pendant you kids were looking for so I threw it away." She responded.

Riku's jaw dropped and Red XIII clearly saw the rage form in his blue-green eyes. "You WHAT!" he demanded in shock.

Tifa blinked as she turned to Riku with a surprised look on her face. Riku marched up to her with his fists clenched. "You threw it away!" he demanded in annoyance.

"Well yes. It's ShinRa and I'm pretty sure you're not searching for anything ShinRa, right? Besides, ShinRa is gone and…" Tifa began, but Riku cut her off, "YOU IDIOT!" he screamed at her face before he moved away and began to pace back and forth before Red XIII and Tifa.

Cloud was quietly observing the young boy and the behavior that he was displaying. "Gee… he's got tendencies just like Sephiroth…" he thought to himself with an amused look on his face.

"I beg your pardon!" Tifa demanded from the boy. Riku realized what he had just said and he turned pale. "Oh… I… said that you were… _intelligent_…" he said sheepishly.

"You did?" Tifa asked with a dumbfounded look on her face.

"Yes, he did." Cloud said, approaching Riku.

Tifa blinked, her facial expression softening. "Oh. Okay." And she was calm again before turning to Red XIII and started talking to him about sniffing out the whereabouts of Sora and Kairi.

Riku breathed out a sigh of relief and turned to Cloud. "Gee… thanks, Uncle Cloud." He said with a slight smile.

Cloud smiled slightly at him and patted his head. "Just be careful the next time you open your mouth to say something." He warned before turning to Red XIII who was already sniffing the air and the ground. "Any sign of them?" he asked.

"…I can… smell another scent… a Turk." Red XIII revealed.

Their eyes widened. "A Turk?" Tifa reacted in awe.

"Reno." Red XIII elaborated before turning to his left. Riku smiled slightly, "Oh, it's Mister Reno. Cool." He said with a pleased look on his face.

Red XIII kept his eyes fixed at one particular direction: at a hospital-like sanctuary a bit far from where they are. "And they went there." He told them.

Cloud, Riku and Tifa turned their gazes to where Red XIII was looking at. "Oh. I know that place." Riku said.

Cloud frowned. "Let's go." He told them before leading the way.


	6. Six

Kids

Six

* * *

"Come on, Mister Reno, you don't have to point that electric rod at us! We won't try to escape!" Sora told Reno, finding it ridiculous that the Turk was still trying to restrain them even as they were already inside the hospital-like place. "Just want to make sure you kids are not a bunch of nutcases who escaped an asylum!" Reno told them.

"Hey we're 14! We're harmless!" Kairi pointed out.

Reno grunted. "Hmf… the last time I heard that, I almost got killed." He muttered miserably, remembering one of their old missions several years back.

"Are you taking us to Uncle Rufus?" Sora asked cheerfully.

Reno was surprised at the question. "How the hell did you know!" he demanded in shock.

"You see, we can prove to you that Kairi and I really come from the future if you would just listen and get that nasty rod away from us before it can electrocute us."

"You kids are spies, aren't you? No one else is supposed to know just yet that the President is alive! …and you called him _Uncle_!" Reno demanded in shock.

"Well… yeah. He's very close friends with our parents in the future so he's like an uncle to us… and we're even friends with his kids! Heh heh." Sora said proudly.

Reno stared unbelievably at them. "Are you kids crazy! You came from the future?" he demanded in shock.

"Yes." The two replied.

"But how did you get in here?" Reno demanded in confusion.

"Blame it on the President's daughter." Sora responded rather vaguely with a shrug.

"President's _daughter?_" Reno exclaimed in utmost shock. If he could remember his facts very well, Rufus has a clean record when it comes to women. The guy never had any girlfriend since birth… and now these kids are telling him that Rufus _has a daughter_? "You kids are really spies!" he told them before he went ahead of them and made them stop walking. They were finally relieved that he has withdrawn the rod from them. He knelt down before them and patted their shoulders, "Tell you what, children, spill out every little secret you have about the President now so that I and my partner Rude will know how to prevent the media from discovering them." He instructed in a whispery tone.

"We're not _children_, we're like, 14?" Kairi protested with a frown on her face.

"Yes, whatever. Now tell me." Reno said, rolling his eyes.

Kairi and Sora exchanged glances with each other before turning back to Reno, "There are no secrets that we know of, Mister Reno. Besides, Uncle Rufus's daughter is in the future and not in the present." The former explained.

"Future? What the… I'm confused! You keep on telling me about the future… you kids come from the future?" Reno demanded, clutching her shoulders and shaking her rather violently.

Kairi nodded with a smile on her face as if she doesn't mind getting shaken violently. "Yes and we can prove it to you if you want to." She said before showing him the Bahamut Materia. "You see, this belongs to my mommy. There is only one Bahamut Materia in the whole Planet! And she gave this to me as a gift. At this point in time, you can check on the younger Yuffie Kisaragi and she still has the Bahamut Materia now." She explained with a happy smile on her face.

"Oh… and look at this one," Sora brought out his wallet and showed him an I.D. "It says _Sora__ Strife_." Sora told him.

Reno stared at the I.D. and took it out of the wallet, examining it, reading the details out loud, "_Kingdom Hearts cast member. Sora Strife. Age 14… Father's name: Cloud Strife… Mother's name…"_ Reno trailed off. "THIS GIRL IS DEAD!" He exclaimed in disbelief.

"But she's not in the future where I come from! Isn't that great? Heheh," Sora got his I.D. back and put it inside his wallet again. "Oh yeah and look at our group picture. Those are my friends!" Sora brought out a wallet-sized photo of himself with his friends. Reno stared unbelievably at the kids on the picture. Kairi peeked over his shoulder while Sora named the faces for Reno: "That one's me and that's Kairi, and over there is Samara, then there's Lavinia and then Theodore and then Riku and then Relena ...and that's my sister Aerial…" Sora pointed back at the girl with red hair and blue eyes wearing her school's yellow sweater and a blue plaid skirt whom he had referred to as _Relena_. "She's going to be your daughter." He said proudly.

Reno wanted to faint. "WHAT?" he demanded.

Kairi giggled, "She gets drunk if you give her milk. Weird, huh?" she asked.

Reno was just quiet and during that long moment of silence, Sora cleared his throat and put back the picture inside his wallet again and returned it inside his pocket. "I think he had a little too much of information overload…" he muttered.

Kairi stared at Reno's mortified blank stare. "Hmm… you're right. He looks like he just saw Samara come out of the television." She said skeptically.

"Reno, who are those kids?" they heard Rude ask from the doorway of a room.

Kairi and Sora turned to look at him. "Oh hello Mister Rude!" they greeted happily. Rude was dumbfounded. He doesn't know those kids but they know him?

Reno slowly got up, his knees shaking. "Urrr….. Rude, could you… take these kids to the President? … I'll just… be in my room… I need to… rest…" he stammered as he walked away.

Kairi and Sora ran over to Rude with happy looks on their faces, "Gee, he never changed, did he?" Sora asked Kairi.

"Yeah. He's still bald." Kairi replied.

Rude did not say anything though he completely heard what the two had been talking about. He just led the two inside the room where he had been staying ever since that morning to guard the person confined inside it. Rude stepped aside from the door to let the two inside. The moment they entered, a figure covered in white came into view and he was seated on a wheelchair by the window.

"...Uncle Rufus?" Sora began with an unsure look on his face.

The figure instantly turned to them, seemingly surprised. "…I beg your pardon?" he asked.

Sora and Kairi smiled, "It's you, Uncle Rufus!" the latter exclaimed joyfully as they both ran to him and hugged him happily.

"Oh no… careful, children!" Rude warned as he immediately ran to the President to get the two away from him.

Rufus just stiffened, his eyes wide in shock and disbelief underneath the blanket that was covering his head even as Rude was pulling the two away from him.

"Are you alright, President Rufus?" Rude asked with an unsure look on his face.

Rufus slowly turned his head to the side to take a good look at the two. "…Did you just call me _Uncle_?" he asked. He couldn't recall having any living cousins with children… and he definitely doesn't have a single sibling… "The last time I checked, I'm an only child… unless Old Man didn't tell me anything about me having siblings?" he was thinking in confusion.

"I wonder why his face is hidden." Kairi thought out loud.

"Silly, Kairi. He has Geostigma and he just survived the Diamond Weapon thing!" Sora told her. "Oh I remember now! Daddy told me about it!" she responded happily.

Rufus was speechless, so was Rude.

Sora and Kairi exchanged looks. "You do the explaining this time, Kairi. I'll back you up if need it." The former urged the latter.

Kairi nodded. "Okay." She said before turning to Rufus with a sweet smile on her face. "My name is Kairi Knightblade and this is my friend, Sora Strife. We come from the future!" she began…

X-x-X-x-X

"Yep, I was right—this is the Healin Lodge." Riku announced with a slight frown on his face.

"How did you know?" Tifa asked skeptically.

"Of course I know, silly." He responded, rolling his eyes before leading the way to the front entrance; however, a guard was standing there.

"Hold it right there, little fellow, where are you heading?" he demanded from Riku.

Riku felt offended. "Hey, I know I'm quite short for my age but you don't have to rub it in!" he snapped angrily.

The guard just shrugged. "Fine. Just show me a valid I.D. then." He told them. Cloud brought out his driver's license. The guard shook his head. "Nope."

Riku snorted and brought out an I.D. from his wallet. "Is this the type of I.D. that you're looking for?" he asked. Tifa, Cloud and Red XIII were surprised to see Riku's I.D because it has the ShinRa logo on it…

And it was authentic.

The guard examined the I.D. and shrugged. "Okay, you may come inside." He said as he gave way.

Riku led the way inside, but before he could go to the stairs, Cloud and Tifa grabbed him by the shoulders. "Alright, Riku, is there something you're not telling us about?" the latter demanded.

"Nothing more, I believe… unless it's regarding your future family, I will never tell you." Riku replied confidently as he squirmed off from their grip on his shoulders. He turned around to face them with a mean smile on his face, "Oh I know what you're thinking—that I'm a spy sent by ShinRa now right?" he asked playfully.

"Gee… he is Sephiroth's brother." Cloud thought, observing the way Riku was acting.

Tifa gasped. "Well are you?" she asked Riku, her eyes widening at him.

Riku just laughed dryly… and then he stopped, glaring ridiculously at them. "Of course not. I told you I come from the future so don't expect me to become a spy for Rufus ShinRa in the present." He told them before proceeding upstairs.

Tifa shrugged. "Oh well… he's got a point. Besides, ShinRa is gone already, right?" she asked brightly as she followed.

"Auntie Tifa, if ShinRa is gone, how come I still have their I.D. in the future?" Riku asked airily.

Tifa froze. "I'm confused… you mean to say their leader is alive!" she asked in disbelief.

"You are very bright, Auntie Tifa." He responded with a sarcastic air. Tifa just raised her eyebrow upon hearing that, proceeding after him.

Cloud was left downstairs with Red XIII, looking puzzled.

"I don't know if I should really listen to Riku, Sora and Kairi…" Cloud muttered, suddenly doubting them. "For all we know they could be spies." He continued.

Red XIII turned to him, "Cloud, don't let what happened in the past affect how you would deal with these young people." He explained. "At least through them, especially through Sora, we know that Aerith will be coming back." He continued, eyeing Cloud with a keen look on his face. Cloud just stared blankly at Red, bowing down his head. "I don't know, Red…" he said, feeling hopeless.

"All you need to do is to have a little faith, Cloud." Red XIII told him before realizing that Tifa and Riku had gone already. "Shall we follow after them?" he asked.

Cloud just looked at the staircase before shaking his head in dismay, turning around. "Why won't they tell me how to get her back?" he blurted out in frustration.

Red XIII was surprised at him. "You heard them, Cloud, they are trying to preserve what's in the future as much as possible!" he told him.

Cloud was quiet, contemplating on why things were happening that way. "I'm going home…" he just said with a frustrated look on his face before marching out of the Healin Lodge.

Red XIII remained on the same spot for a few moments, watching Cloud leave. When he couldn't see Cloud anymore, he just bowed down his head, wagging his tail sadly before deciding to just follow Cloud home.

X-x-X-x-X-x-X

"So there!" Kairi finally ended the explanation.

"I don't believe this." Rufus said exasperatingly after a few moments of silence. "We can prove to you that we come from the future!" Sora said.

"But how the bloody hell did you get here!" he demanded.

Rude was beginning to get worried about the President's condition. The doctor advised that too much excitement and stress is bad for him in the meantime because his body is still very weak… and from what Rude could observe from the conversation with Sora and Kairi, Rufus is beginning to get very confused and upset, putting his stress levels at risk.

"We told you, Uncle Rufus, through your future daughter. She's got strange abilities, you know." Sora said. "Like what?" Rufus demanded in confusion.

"Oh you know… she can read minds, she can do telepathy, she can burn images in film from her mind, she can go through TV screens and she can will people dead! Isn't that great?" Sora replied proudly.

"It's good if you form a party and you get her to join but her limit gauge is very slow… but her ultimate attack is really the ULTIMATE! I mean, it can kill even Uncle Sephiroth!" Kairi explained.

"Sounds like a freak of nature…" Rufus muttered.

"Freak of nature? She's your daughter!" Sora pointed out.

They were interrupted when the door opened again and there was Riku. "Oh, I knew I'd find you here…" he said with a sly smile on his face.

"Riku!" Sora exclaimed, glad that his best friend arrived to back them up, but his mouth dropped open when he saw Tifa following after him.

Tifa stepped inside, stunned to see a man on a wheelchair covered with blankets. "Oh my… are we in the right room?" she asked in confusion, thinking that it could be a room for quarantined patients because the condition of the wheelchaired-man looks dangerous.

"Depends on what room you are looking for, ma'am." Rude told her quite timidly.

Tifa turned to Rude and was surprised upon recognizing him. "You're ShinRa!" she exclaimed in shock… and then turned back to Riku. "I knew it! You took us here as a trap!" she cried out at him.

Riku rolled his eyes and glared unbelievably at her, "Hey, lady, I'm telling you, I am not a spy!" he protested in annoyance.

"Well I'm here to pick up these kids." Tifa told Rude before grabbing Riku's arm. "Come now, Sora and Kairi. We wouldn't want to bother them." She said nervously.

"What's the rush? These kids still owe me an explanation about a lot of things," Rufus told her.

The room was quiet for a few seconds before Tifa let go of Riku and marched up to Rufus, kneeling down before him to look at his face, "And you are?" she asked, curious upon his identity. To their horror, she pulled off the hood.

"Oh no!" Rude thought as he rushed to the scene so that he could cover the President's face again.

Tifa was stunned, feeling that the whole room just spun around her. "Rufus ShinRa!" she cried out in shock.

"Bloody hell! Who gave you permission to do that! Rude, call the guards! I want these lowlifes out of my sight!" Rufus snapped angrily.

"Yessir!" Rude began to call the front desk.

Sora, Riku and Kairi gaped at Rufus in disbelief. "Uncle Rufus… why!" Sora asked in protest.

"Stop calling me Uncle! I don't even know you!" Rufus growled impatiently.

"You're not taking us to prison, are you? If you do that you will be endangering even your own life!" Riku warned with an angry look on his face.

"My life is already endangered to be begin with, what more could happen?" Rufus answered airily. Soon, the guards arrived. There were 12 of them all armed and equipped. One of the guards that arrived was the one guarding the front door. He recognized Riku and greeted him gleefully. "You know this boy?" Rude asked him.

"Yeah. He's got a ShinRa I.D." the guard replied as the rest of his colleagues grabbed Sora, Kairi and Tifa.

"Hey, let us go!" Kairi wailed.

"No fair! How come Riku gets to stay?" Sora asked.

"Because he has an I.D." Rude told them as Riku handed him his I.D.

"Look, could you just let us go? We need to find Samara's pendant so that we could go back to the future before the 7th day arrives!" Sora demanded from Rufus.

"Lock them up downstairs and don't free them until I say so." Rufus commanded rather coldly.

"But we have ShinRa I.D.'s too! Can't you at least give us a chance to show them?" Sora asked in protest. Rufus just ignored them, looking away.

"President Rufus, please just let the kids go and you can keep me here in place of them!" Tifa pleaded.

Rufus turned to look at her with a cold look on his face, "No." was all he said before wheeling himself away from them. "Take them away. The silver-haired boy will stay here and give me an explanation why he has an I.D. and what your agenda really is." He decided with a low but threatening tone.

X-x-X-x-X

"Grrr… let us out of here!" Tifa pounded angrily on the door of the room where they were locked in. Kairi was checking on the windows and realized that they were shatter-proof. "I guess we're stuck here for a while…" she said sadly.

"But we have to get out of here! We're running out of time!" Sora said in worry.

"I know… but… we don't even know where the pendant is!" Kairi said.

"Look, I know this is hard to do but maybe we could trust Riku to free us." Tifa told them with a hopeful look on her face while pondering on where Cloud and Red XIII are. "Maybe they left or something…" she thought miserably before plopping down on the steel bed and sighing heavily. "So much for seeing Rufus alive again. He looks rather… nasty with those burns…" she said.

"Oh, that will heal in time. Believe me." Sora told her. Kairi smiled sweetly at Tifa, "Yeah, he'll look as handsome and youthful as he is from the very first time you met him! Hee!" she giggled.

Tifa just rolled her eyes. "Well he is handsome… even more handsome and cuter than Cloud. The problem is, he is too stuck-up and he's… too… snotty. I can't take it. And he's a ShinRa for crying out loud!" she protested as she got up again and kicked the door, but it wouldn't even budge. "Bloody hell!" she cried out impatiently before turning away from the door. "I give up!" she walked towards the window.

Sora shook his head in disbelief, "I can't believe Uncle Rufus is doing this to his wife…" he said softly to Kairi.

"Yeah…" Kairi agreed sadly.

"What did you say?" Tifa asked, turning back to them.

Realizing what they had just said, they shook their heads, "Nothing. We were just saying that there's more than what meets the eye." Kairi fibbed.

Tifa blinked. "Oh… and why do you say so?" she asked curiously as she leaned against the wall.

"Well… Uncle Rufus isn't really that mean in the future." Kairi began.

"In fact, he's my favorite Uncle. He's even best pals with my dad." Sora continued.

Tifa frowned at them, "I find that hard to believe. Maybe because he married _a saint_, that's why." She laughed.

The two were just silent, exchanging funny looks. Tifa became suspicious. "What?" she demanded.

The two looked back at her. "Shall we tell her?" Sora asked Kairi.

Kairi just shrugged. "Well actually you're the one he married." She pointed out to Tifa.

X-x-X-x-X

"Aaaaaaaaaaaaaargh!"

Rufus, Riku and Rude cringed when they heard the ear-piercing screech of Tifa Lockheart from downstairs.

"That was quite loud…" Rufus muttered.

Riku grunted. "Nah. She must've found out something _beautiful_ about her future. Heheh." He murmured with an evil smile on his face before turning back to the President to proceed with his explanation about how they got there from the future and how they could come back.

"Is there a way that the pendant can be replaced?" Rufus asked.

"No. It's one of a kind. It's silver and it's heart-shaped." Riku explained.

Rufus frowned. "Silver and heart-shaped? I don't even wear silver jewelry. Why would I even give my future daughter _silver_?" he asked with a disgusted look on his face.

"It's for the honor of your future wife who likes hearts and wears silver jewelry, Uncle Rufus. Besides, your sons are the ones who wear this gold-chain necklace with their names engraved on it." Riku said with a slight smile on his face.

"Why won't you tell me who my future wife will be?" Rufus asked with an annoyed tone.

"Because you might kill me now if I do and call me a liar." Riku explained. "Anyway, as I was saying, it's silver and heart-shaped, and it has the ShinRa logo engraved in the front. At the back, there's a barcode and from what I've heard from my dad, underneath that barcode is a microchip. If scanned or inserted inside a device, all vital information regarding your kids will be revealed—that is the reason why you and your future wife would always be reminding your children to take care of their necklaces…" he continued.

"What kind of vital information?" Rufus asked, wanting Riku to be specific.

"Medical records, what foods they have allergy on, what sicknesses they had in the past, what kind of special abilities do they have, their blood type, when they were born and the time of birth, their weight from babyhood, how their fetuses developed... you know, stuff like that. It's actually from the laboratory taken care of my mom." Riku pointed out before taking a deep breath. "Samara's pendant is the most important and it has more sensitive data compared to the others because of her _special_ abilities. Once an unworthy person possesses that the whole Planet could be put to danger… even much worse than Sephiroth summoning Meteor or simply causing havoc." He continued.

Rufus and Rude were stunned. "She _is_ a freak of nature." Rufus blurted out in disbelief.

"Well she _is_ your daughter. Now, would you be nice enough to let me and my friends go and find the pendant before the 7th day comes?" Riku asked politely, crossing his arms.


	7. Seven

Kids

Seven

* * *

"I can't believe he threw me inside this prison…" Riku muttered miserably with an angry look on his face.

"This isn't a prison; it's a hospital room." Tifa corrected.

"Well it is a prison now. We're in it and we're locked up in it." Riku snapped as he sat down on the bed.

"Gee… it's even harder to communicate with Uncle Rufus now compared to where we came from!" Kairi said sadly. Tifa scratched her head, "I still can't figure out how I fell in-love with him? Could you explain it to me?" she demanded from the three of them with a disturbed look on her face.

"You know you shouldn't have told this woman that she will marry Rufus ShinRa in the future. Now she'll be blabbing on and on and on and asking us more questions. Aren't you all tired of answering questions?" Riku demanded, feeling so impatient already. "Shut the bloody hell up, Riku. I'm beginning to lose my patience with you." Tifa told him with a stern look on her face before turning to Kairi and Sora.

"That's up for you to find out for yourself, Auntie Tifa… because we don't really know the answer." Kairi explained with an apologetic smile on her face. Riku got up from the bed and stomped angrily on the floor. "Goddammit! We have to find a way to get out of here! If we can't go back to the future, the entire past is going to change and… we'll be stuck here forever!" Riku told him.

"Okay, think… what can soften Uncle Rufus's heart from our time?" Sora asked.

"Auntie Tifa?" Kairi asked.

"Can't do that now. They're not yet a couple here." Riku pointed out.

"Oh right… Uhm… what about…" Kairi began to think of something else, but realized that she doesn't know anything else about Rufus.

"Darn." Riku rolled his eyes and went to the door, peeking outside through its little window. No one was there. "If only I have my keyblade with me…" he muttered before turning back to the others. "Is anyone equipped with Materia or any other weapon?" he asked.

"I don't have Materia with me and I don't have my keyblade." Sora replied sadly.

"I have my level 1 glove right here but it won't work against that door, these walls and that window. I've already tried it… and I left all my materia with Vincent at home." Tifa said as she remained crouched on the floor and hugging herself. She looked rather disturbed and bothered by a certain revelation of Sora and Kairi regarding her future husband. "Who, what, when, where, how….. why?" her mind was screaming at her.

Kairi brought out 20 Shuriken blades. "I have some of these. Mommy says to always carry at least 20 of these wherever I go." She said.

"Oh good! We can use one of those to pick the lock!" Sora declared happily as he and Riku rushed over to Kairi to check out the shuriken blades. She nodded. "Alright. I'll try. My dad taught me how to pick locks." She said before proceeding to the door and started to pick the lock with a shuriken… but it wouldn't work.

"Damn it…" Riku muttered under his breath before turning away.

"You know you should've hit the Turk or you should've harmed Rufus before they could take you in here, then we could've escaped by now." Tifa told him.

Riku was surprised at her, "Hey, I know I can be so rude and mean sometimes but I'm not all _that _bad! I can't hurt Uncle Rufus even if he's stubborn now!" he said.

Sora snickered. "Yeah. If he does that, he'll lose brownie points in Samara. Hah hah…" he said teasingly. Tifa narrowed her eyes on Riku, "Oh so that's why! You have a crush on my future daughter!" she realized with an evil smile on her face.

Knock. Knock. Knock.

They stiffened when they heard someone knocking on the door. Sora, Kairi and Riku backed away from the door when it slowly creaked open. It was Reno.

"Mister Reno!" Kairi exclaimed.

"Shh!" Reno told them before he quickly handed Sora the pendant and then stormed out of the room.

They were all silent, trying to comprehend what had just happened. Reno peeked through the small window on the door. "Listen, I found that while you kids were looking for it too. And I just want you to know that… I believe you." He told them. He felt light-hearted when he saw the thankful smiles on Sora and Kairi's faces before he proceeded, "And I want you to convince the President to free you from here because I can't do that. You can do so by showing him what that pendant can do, alright?" he asked.

Sora handed the pendant to Kairi and she held it tightly in her hands.

Tifa was awestruck. "Gee… Turks are nice after all…" she said.

"Of course they are! They're human too! If they had been mean, they're just doing their job." Riku told her.

Kairi took a deep breath and closed her eyes, putting her hands close to her chest. "Samara," she began in a hoarse whisper.

The room was silent and Reno was still watching them.

Kairi opened her eyes and blinked. Nothing happened. She turned to Sora and Riku with a panicky look on her face, "It's not working!" she said.

"Are you sure that's the right pendant?" Tifa asked. Kairi checked on the pendant and nodded. "Yes it is. It has ShinRa on it and it has the barcode too!" she declared. Tifa got up and went to join Sora and Riku who were standing beside Kairi and she looked over their shoulder, examining the pendant.

"Well?" Reno asked.

Tifa turned to him with a frown on her face, "It's not working." She told him.

Reno looked quite disappointed but then something caught his attention from behind Tifa, Kairi, Sora and Riku. His eyes just widened and his mouth dropped open. "What the?" he cried out in shock as he continued to stare past the four. Noticing his reaction, the four of them turned around to check on what he saw… and there was a little girl about the age of 10 sitting on the steel chair just beside the window. She had black hair which length was way past her waist and she had the bluest eyes anyone has ever seen. Her skin was very pale and smooth, almost like porcelain, and her tiny delicate hands were placed comfortably on her lap as she was looking up at them with a slight smile on her face.

Kairi, Sora and Riku were all awestruck at first, but then Riku had the guts to greet her. "…Hi, Samara." He said. He sounded like he was even scared.

"Hello, Riku." Samara replied rather shyly in her usual low and creepy tone.

"Samzy!" Kairi and Sora both ran to her and pulled her up, embracing her tightly. "You're here!" Kairi said happily. "Oh we're so glad! Hah hah!" Sora said. Samara grunted, clenching her fists and turned to Sora, "Stop hugging me!" she pushed him away from herself. "Hey, I just missed you, Samara. Is that bad?" Sora asked with a silly grin. Samara pouted and turned to Riku. "What took you guys so long! Mommy and daddy are already nagging my head off for days now for what I have done!" she told them.

"We ran into some trouble… but we're alright now. It's just that, we're imprisoned here… and we can't get out." Sora said.

"Who put you in here anyway?" Samara asked before turning her attention to Tifa Lockheart who was just standing by the door and gaping at her. Samara was in awe upon seeing the younger version of her mother and she was quiet for a while, relishing the moment. Tifa forgot to breathe during the long moment of staring with her future daughter… and she didn't know whether to be afraid or not. She backed away further when the little girl rushed to her for an embrace, and she felt her hairs rising when the little girl had finally embraced her. "Mommy." the little girl said softly.

Tifa felt awkward in that moment, not knowing whether to hug the little girl back or just push her away.

They were interrupted when Reno opened and door and was staring unbelievably at Samara. All eyes turned to him. He pointed an accusing finger at the girl. "Aren't you the girl from the horror movie?" he asked.

Samara blinked and let go of Tifa. "Oh. Yes. It's one of my roles in a remake during our time… and my mommy got my name from the original horror movie itself. Hee!" she said proudly.

Silence filled the room.

Kairi approached Samara and handed her back the pendant. "Here you go. You'd better wear it again." she said. "Thanks, Kairi." Samara said as she took it and fastened the necklace around her neck again.

Reno shut the door again. "Wait here, I'll get the President. He has to see this." He told them before running off upstairs to get Rufus.

"It's actually your dad who imprisoned us here because he wouldn't believe us." Riku told her with a disappointed look on his face. She turned to him. "What?" and then turned to Tifa with a look of disbelief on her face. "And you're here too?" she asked.

"During this time, they're not in-love with each other, Samara, so don't count on any pity from him at this point in time." Sora told her.

"And I can't even imagine why I would even fall in-love with someone so… so despicable like him!" Tifa said in disbelief, turning away and crossing her arms in frustration. Samara turned back to them, "You're wrong! Mommy could've hated daddy and ShinRa before but daddy never…" she stopped herself from continuing any further. She almost said something that is supposed to remain a secret. "Let's just go home." Riku told his friends. Tifa turned to him, "What are you trying to say? You're going to leave me here?" demanded in awe.

"No, we can't leave yet. I have to erase their memories and make them forget that they've seen us or known us so that our future wouldn't be affected!" Samara told them in protest.

"Aw man! You mean we're staying here for more days? What if the 7th day comes?" Sora asked in worry.

"As long as I'm here in the same timeline, it won't take effect anymore. First we have to get out of here and you guys have to bring me to whoever knows that we will exist in the future." She explained.

"Well it's basically just acquaintances and our future parents…" Kairi pointed out.

"And your confused mother over there," Riku pointed at Tifa. Samara turned back to Tifa and smiled at her before turning back to her friends. "Hey you were saying something about _your dad_ awhile ago?" Tifa asked.

Samara felt as if a heavy boulder had been dropped upon her head. "Me and my big mouth…" she thought miserably before shrugging. "I did? Oh you must've heard the wind. I couldn't remember anything." She fibbed, hoping that Tifa would just forget about it because she can be very gullible sometimes.

Not this time. "No, you said that I hated ShinRa and Rufus but then Rufus never what?" Tifa demanded.

"Yeah, what?" Sora chimed in, also unaware of the situation.

Samara fell silent. "Well… daddy told me… the story on… how he and mommy met and how he… and she… got together…" she stammered.

"Well how?" Tifa asked, crossing her arms. "So that maybe I can't prevent it?" she was thinking to herself with a sweet smile on her face. But Samara could read her thoughts. The little girl bowed down her head and looked away. "No, mommy. I won't allow you to prevent it." She muttered.

Tifa was surprised at her. "She can read minds." Riku reminded her.

Before Tifa could react further, the door burst open and there was Rufus ShinRa seated on his wheelchair with the Turks and three guards standing behind him.

"Daddy," Samara began.

"How did this girl get in here?" Rufus asked the Turks.

"I told you, President Rufus, she just appeared out of nowhere." Reno explained.

Samara ran to Rufus and knelt down before him, placing her hands on his knees as if begging, "Can you release my friends now? I really have to return back to the future with them so that their parents wouldn't worry anymore." She pleaded.

Rufus stared unbelievably at the little girl. Looking at her eyes seemed to remind him of his own blue eyes whenever he would look at himself in the mirror. He scanned the look on her face before turning to the base of her neck, seeing the pendant. "I see you've found the pendant, huh?" he asked. And to their surprise, he just snatched it rather forcefully and then pushed Samara away from him. The girl lost her balance and fell backwards onto the floor. Riku, Sora and Kairi were mortified upon what they had just seen. Tifa knelt down beside the little girl and helped her sit up. "Are you alright?" she asked softly. Samara's face was covered with her hair and they were not sure if she's looking at Rufus or not, but she was not reacting or talking. Rufus wheeled himself away from them and shut the door again. "You're all staying here until further notice." He told them, leaving them there.

Riku went to Samara's aid. "Samara, did he hurt you?" he asked her as he parted her hair from her face. She had this stunned look on her face and her eyes were wide in fear and they were moist with tears. "...Oh no… don't cry," Riku told her.

Samara just sniffed as she began to tremble. "I know that people hate ShinRa because they said we're mean… but… I thought daddy was different until… until…" she began to cry. Tifa felt sorry for the girl and embraced her, hoping that it could comfort her. After all, she is the future mother of the girl. "Hush now, Samara… it's alright. ShinRa is really mean to begin with… and I guess it didn't change?" she asked with a frown on her face.

"No! We're not bad! Grampa Old Man is the bad man and not daddy!" Samara wailed angrily. The lights began to flicker, scaring Tifa. "Bloody hell! What happened?" she demanded, letting her go.

Samara wiped her tears away and just crawled towards the corner of the room and continued to lament there. "Perhaps it's time for her to let her temper out so that she can start killing people and get us out of here! Without that necklace we will be stuck here forever!" Riku told them in protest.

"We can't let her kill _everyone_! And you know how hard it is to control her once she starts with the killing!" Kairi told him. "Well then how can we escape from here if we don't start killing anyone?" he replied with an airy look on his face. Samara got up and went to the door, banging angrily on it with her fists, "Daddy! Let me out of here! I can't believe you would do this to me!" she screamed angrily.

The lights began to flicker again, but this time, it wouldn't stop flickering. The little girl kept on screaming and banging angrily on the door.

Riku just sat down on the bed, crossing his arms, "That's it, Samara. Go on." He was thinking with a sly smile on his face. Sora couldn't take the flickering of the lights. It was way too freaky and it was giving him the heebie-jeebies already so he went to Samara and pulled her away from the door. "Hey, Samara, quit that! It won't do you any good! He is not yet your daddy at this point in time so you can't blame him if he is cold towards you or even to Tifa." He told her. "But he's going to be my daddy? Can't he at least feel the connection between us? Doesn't he have pity?" she asked while sobbing.

"Darn it, Sora. Why'd you stop her?" Riku asked him.

"What kind of friend are you? Forcing her to get angry at the world?" Kairi told him.

"Well she is angry at the world in the first place, Kairi." He responded with an arrogant look on his face. "Oh yeah? How would you know anyway?" Sora demanded.

Tifa noticed that pressure was beginning to form within the four and knowing that panic wouldn't help any of them, she clapped her hands twice to catch their attention, "Alright, that's enough you nasties!" she shouted sternly, making them shut up. She got up with an annoyed look on her face and marched toward them, taking Samara away from Sora. "You leave Samara alone for a while. You're making it more traumatic for her." She told them as she carried the little girl onto the bed and made her sit there after shooing Riku away from it. Riku rolled his eyes and moved away, going to the window.

"It's already night time and I'm sure Barret and the others will start worrying about us. Once they do, Cloud or Vincent will come back here and ask for us. I'm sure." Tifa told them with a little optimism in her tone.

X-x-X-x-X

"Sushi for dinner?" Barret asked in disbelief.

"Hey it's the only food I can serve you guys since Tifa's not here and she failed to do the groceries again." Yuffie told them, crossing her arms as she sat down on her chair. Vincent stared at the sushi before taking a piece. "Where's Tifa anyway? She hasn't returned with those three yet." He told them before taking the initiative to eat it. "Not bad." He remarked.

"Of course it's not bad." Yuffie told him proudly before getting some for herself. Cloud began to eat a piece. "I guess they're not yet through talking to Rufus." He told them.

"You left them there?" Barret asked.

"They'll be fine. They're with Tifa." Cloud told them. "But it's Rufus we're talking about! A ShinRa?" Yuffie protested.

"Yeah. You know we can't trust them! The last time we did, all of us almost died!" Barret snapped. Cloud shrugged. "Well if that's the case, do you want me to go back there and fetch them?" he asked almost with a sarcastic tone. Everyone was quiet for a while before he got up to leave, but the lights began to flicker and soon, there was power failure. "Aww man!" Barret cried out in exasperation. "GAWDS!"

Red XIII's tail was still glowing and it served as little light for a while. "Thank goodness for his tail," Vincent murmured while Yuffie got some candles from one of the kitchen drawers and lit them immediately, putting them by the sink. "Geez… what good timing for a power failure. I wonder why." She muttered miserably.

"On second thought, I'll just stay here and eat dinner with you guys." Cloud told them as he sat down again and grabbed three more sushi and stuffed it all in his mouth.

"What is wrong with you, foo'? I thought you're going to go out there and look for them?" Barret asked.

"It's too dark and there's no moon! Do you want me to trip around and step on Chocobo manure on my way to the Healin Lodge and embarrass myself in front of everyone including Rufus and my future son?" Cloud pointed out with a look of disbelief on his face.

X-x-X-x-X

"I can't believe I'm out here walking in this dark road going to the Healin Lodge and I've tripped on random stones and rocks for like 10 times already and then I still have this feeling that I will be stepping on something stinky for the 7th time right about…"

SQUISH

"…Now." Cloud froze and stepped away, but tripped again and fell on the ground. "I don't know how you can see in the dark, Vincent, but could you please guide me?" he pleaded as he struggled to get up despite the annoyance that was pressuring him.

Vincent just shrugged. "Like what you said, Cloud, _every man for himself._ It's why you didn't want to go and check on Tifa and the rest right? Because you know that they can defend themselves." He told him with a slight smile on his face.

Cloud dusted himself. "My boots really stink now… you think there's a lake here somewhere?" he asked.

"There's not time to be looking for lakes, Cloud. We have to get to the Healin Lodge before visiting hours are over." Vincent told him as he sped up. Cloud caught up with him. "Alright. But I'll stay outside because I wouldn't want to soil the ground that Rufus walks on." He told him sarcastically. Vincent just said, "Alright."

They were quiet for a few moments before Vincent told him, "I'm actually worried about Riku."

Cloud felt like choking. "… well… I kept on wondering if Sora is okay…" he admitted.

They stopped in their tracks.

Vincent turned to his side and sighed heavily, "Alright, Yuffie, come out of hiding and stop stalking us." He said out loud.

They heard some bushes rustling and finally, Yuffie came out of hiding, dusting herself.

"Well… we're like a group of parents looking for their children." Vincent said with a slight smile on his face.

"Aw c'mon, I can't help but feel this weird closeness with that Kairi girl!" Yuffie said sheepishly.

"There's nothing to be ashamed of, Yuffie and Cloud." Vincent told them before he proceeded. "After all, they will be ours someday." He said in monotone. Yuffie and Cloud followed after him "You think something bad happened to them?" she asked with a worried tone. The two men did not answer. She sighed heavily, "I kinda feel bad about over-reacting and screaming at Kairi the other night and this morning… I hope she didn't feel offended." She said.

"Who doesn't feel offended when you scream at their faces?" Cloud asked mindlessly.

BONK

"OW!" Cloud cried out in pain, realizing that Yuffie was just walking beside him. He still couldn't see well because it was really very dark. "How can you manage to see in this kind of environment?" he demanded from her, rubbing the back of his head where she hit him hard with her fist. "Nyuk nyuk nyuk nyuk! Hey, I'm a ninja. I was trained in the dark too so I got used to moving around even if there's no light. Hee!" Yuffie said proudly. "That's an asset." Cloud muttered with a sarcastic tone.

"But I still wonder who my future husband will be. You think he'll be handsome and big and strong and princely?" she asked dreamily.

"Dream on." Cloud muttered.

"Aw c'mon! Don't you ever wonder how Aerith will get back? Doesn't the future interest you, Cloud?" Yuffie asked.

"But those kids won't talk and tell us everything." He responded. "Of course they won't. At least try to understand their situation." Vincent said solemnly. "I mean, I wonder about how Lucrecia will be back, but at least I know that one day she'll be here again. I just don't know how or when." He continued with a slight smile on his face.

Yuffie began to snicker while Cloud was trying to stop himself from chuckling as he pursed his lips. "Well… may I ask what is so funny?" Vincent asked coolly.

"And at least we know now that Sephiroth isn't the _father_ of your kid! Har har!" Yuffie laughed gleefully. Vincent raised his eyebrows as his jaw dropped slightly. "I beg your pardon?" he demanded.

"Well… to tell you the truth, Vincent, we got into thinking that you are the _mother_ of Riku when he told us that he is the son of Sephiroth." Cloud explained. "Yeah! Because he keeps on looking rather lovingly at you… you know, the way a child would look at his loving mother?" Yuffie chimed in with a silly smile on her face.

"Oh pish-posh! Do I even look like a woman to you?" Vincent demanded, putting his hands on his hips.

"Well… you sure act like one." She responded. "But Yuffie, Vincent is refined like Rufus. You know, like Brits and stuff… so they both move with grace and so-called finesse." Cloud pointed out.

Vincent felt offended. "What's wrong with being like this? Tifa speaks with this accent too…" he muttered miserably before telling them, "You people are such racists."

"We Wutaians are not racists, mind you. It's the Midgarians who are racists! Hmf!" Yuffie protested, glaring at Cloud.

"Don't look at me, I know I was born in Midgar but I was raised in Nibelheim." Cloud told her.

"Ugh… and what is that smell?" Yuffie asked, covering her nose. Cloud sniffed the air. "Oh forget that." He muttered.

"It's just his boots." Vincent pointed out before he stopped in his tracks and looked up at the Healin Lodge situated on top of a hill. "Looks like they're experiencing power failure too." he stated flatly.

"That's it. I can't go on walking like a blind man. I'll just stay down here and wait for the two of you to come back with Tifa and the kids." Cloud told them as he stood still.

"Fine." Vincent declared before proceeding. Yuffie snorted at Cloud, "And clean your boots while you're bumming around here." She said before running after Vincent.

Cloud just rolled his eyes. "I can't believe a brat like her could ever become a mother in the future…" he muttered.

X-x-X-x-X

"Why aren't the generators activated?" Reno asked Rude.

"Tried. Won't work. It's like the entire power supply has been sabotaged by some… unknown." Rude explained, not really sure what happened.

Reno shrugged. "Oh well…" he turned to Rufus who was still seated on his wheelchair and examining the pendant by candlelight. "You okay, Prez?" he asked.

"Just leave me alone." Rufus instructed.

"Alright. But we'll be back for your 10 o' clock medication." Reno pointed out before proceeding to the door with Rude.

Rufus clutched the pendant tightly in his palm and stared blankly at the flickering flame of the candle. "Reno," he called.

"Yes, sir?" Reno stopped on his tracks and turned to face him again.

"Have some food delivered inside the room where those kids are." Rufus instructed.

* * *

...

note: talk about cliff-hangers. Wait for the next chapter. I'm trying to get inspiration for "humour".


	8. Eight

Kids  
by Riquisel Yutifae

Author's Note: Uhm... for those asking, Aerial is NOT Reno's daughter. His daughter here is Relena (no relation to Relena of Gundam Wing. It's just the combination of Reno and Elena's names). Aerial is the youngest child of Cloud and Aerith. For more information, check out http: ... it's where I got the info.

Eight

* * *

"Hold it right there, the two of you, where are you going?" the guard demanded from Vincent and Yuffie as they came up to the front main entrance. Yuffie peered inside the lobby and saw that the place was lit with candles. "No generator, huh? And I thought this place was worth more than a million bucks." She said rather airily.

"Actually we have generators, but for some reason we couldn't get them to work. Someone must've tampered with its power supply." The guard replied. "Anyway, do you have any valid I.D. that you can show me?" he continued.

Yuffie face-faulted. "Damn! I don't have any I.D…" she muttered. Vincent tried to recall what's inside his wallet: an expired ShinRa I.D. from when he was still a Turk and an expired driver's license that was only valid until 1970. "Pardon us, sir, but we don't have I.D.'s; however we would like to ask if you have seen three young people arrive here with an adult lady?" he asked.

The guard frowned. "What is your relationship with those people?" he asked rather defensively.

"Aha. They're still here." Vincent realized quietly before proceeding, "Are they still with President Rufus?" he asked, ignoring the question. The guard shook his head, "No they're not. They've been locked up in one of the rooms for causing trouble earlier." He explained.

"Trouble?" Vincent asked, his heart suddenly racing. Yuffie's eyes widened when she heard that. "What kind of trouble?" she asked.

"Telling lies to the President. Silly kids. They say they come from the future…" the guard laughed ridiculously. Vincent frowned at him, "What if I tell you that they are not liars?" he sneered. The guard stopped laughing and eyed Vincent with a frown on his face, "What do you know about those kids, anyway?" he interrogated.

"This one," Yuffie said, sprinkling some sleep dust over the guard's head. The guard sniffed it while the two backed away from him. In a moment, he fell to the ground, sleeping soundly.

"Nice move." Vincent said.

"Nyuk nyuk nyuk! I knew that would come in handy someday. C'mon, let's go find them!" Yuffie said, leading the way inside. "Wait, what about the receptionist?" Vincent asked.

"Don't be silly, I've been spying what's inside while you were talking to the guard. The receptionist is asleep and there are no other guards inside the lobby. Let's just put out the candles so that no one else can see us. You can see in the dark, right?" she asked as she stepped inside and began to blow out the flame of each candle in sight. Vincent helped her and in a matter of seconds, they were through. "Where do you think they are?" she asked. "Probably here on the first floor if they don't have a basement. I worked once with the Turks; we were never allowed to imprison anybody near the President's room. I'm sure they still follow that tradition." He responded before proceeding to the first hallway to his right. "Great. You go on ahead. I'll go back to Cloud and tell him that Tifa and the kids are imprisoned." She told him before rushing out of the Healin Lodge.

X-x-X-x-X

"Someone's coming!" Sora pointed out when he heard footsteps from outside and saw some light coming from a candle.

"Finally, some light." Riku muttered.

Samara looked up at the door and crawled towards it.

"Samara, could you put the lights back on now?" Kairi pleaded. The little girl did not answer.

"I can smell food…" Tifa began.

Riku and Sora sniffed the air. "Yeah… you're right…" Sora said. "Hey come to think of it, we haven't even eat for the whole day yet!" Riku pointed out.

"They're bringing us food?" Kairi asked happily.

"You see, Auntie Tifa? Uncle Rufus isn't that mean!" Sora said brightly. Tifa just made a face. She wasn't sure about this.

The door slowly opened and there was Rude and Reno with trays of food. "The President asked us to give these to you." Reno began.

"Interesting." Tifa said sarcastically.

They were so focused on the Turks and on the food while the Turks were focused on carefully putting the trays of food on the floor that they didn't notice Samara crawl out of the room and completely escaped.

"Sorry for the trouble. Although Rude and I really believe you guys, we can't go against our Boss." Reno apologized rather sheepishly.

Tifa just kept quiet.

"Aw, can't you just let us go?" Sora pleaded.

"Sorry, no can-do, kiddo." Reno replied, patting the boy's head before he and Rude stepped out of the room, closed the door and locked it again. "I really pity them. What if they get stuck here forever?" Reno told Rude as they walked away.

Rude just shrugged.

"I mean, the future will completely change!" Reno pointed out with an exasperated look on his face.

Rude was just quiet.

"Oh well, let's just go back to the Prez and tell him that we gave them food already." Reno muttered, realizing that Rude will just be dot-dot-dotty with him regarding that topic.

X-x-X-x-X

"Cloud!" Yuffie cried out his name in panic, making him jerk up in surprise and alert to whatever danger there is around them. He turned to the direction where he heard her call his name. "What is it?" he asked with a cautious look on his face.

Yuffie stopped before him and was panting heavily, "They're imprisoned in one of the rooms!" she announced.

"What?" Cloud demanded in disbelief. How could they be imprisoned? Did they do anything bad? Oh right, it's ShinRa we're talking about and Tifa is from AVALANCHE…

"He must've thought that the kids are lying!" Yuffie told him.

"Let's go," Cloud said, walking straight ahead. Yuffie turned around to look at him and blinked. "Cloud, you're going the wrong way! That's a…" she trailed off when she saw Cloud disappear… and heard him cry out. "…a cliff…" she ran down the hill to go to where Cloud had landed. She saw him struggling to get up from the bushes. "Good thing there are bushes there, otherwise you could've died! It's rather high from where we were standing, you know?" she told him while trying to stop herself from laughing. Cloud grunted and got up from the bushes, feeling for leaves on his hair and removing them in annoyance. "What caused this massive black-out anyway? It's so dark and I can't see a darn thing!" Cloud muttered impatiently.

Yuffie was looking up at the hill and her eyes were wide in mixed fear and curiosity as she saw a figure clad in white running down the hill. It was a little girl. "What is that?" she screeched in fear as she hid behind Cloud. Cloud looked around. "What?" he asked… and he saw it too. He didn't need any light. The white dress was very bright and can be seen easily. She also seemed to be holding a candle with a small flame. He blinked, not believing what he was seeing. "Is that… a ghost?" he asked.

"I don't know! I don't wanna look! It's scary!" Yuffie wailed, covering her eyes. Cloud frowned and decided to follow the little girl. "Where is she going?" he was wondering. It did not look like a ghost to him. "Cloud, where are you going?" Yuffie cried out, running after him. "Shh!" Cloud snapped at her as he continued to follow the little girl discreetly. Yuffie shivered. "Oh no… Cloud! Don't follow her! What if she turns around and she has a scary ugly face just like in a horror movie?" she wailed in fear.

"No, I think I can recognize her from the pictures that Sora showed us. Besides, this is not a horror movie!" Cloud told her as he sped up. The little girl was quite fast.

Yuffie rolled her eyes and just ran after Cloud, "But what about Tifa and the kids?" she asked.

"Vincent can take care of it. Besides, we have to know where this little girl is going and what she is going to do… and what she is doing here!" Cloud explained.

X-x-X-x-X

Samara continued to run amidst the darkness and the cool evening air. Besides, she's used to seeing in the dark so she could determine where she was going. She was looking for a body of water. She _needed_ a body of water… like a lake or a river or even an ocean, even if she is afraid of the last one. She only had one thing in mind: confusion.

Her confusion was out of fear and mistrust on the current people around her… and what happened with her and Rufus. She was having a hard time handling it all in her mind, and Tifa doesn't seem to be showing any interest in comforting her. She felt so scared that she just wanted to go home, but how can she go home without the pendant? Knowing that Rufus would never give her the pendant even if she went there herself after she escaped from the room where she was imprisoned with the others, she just decided to look for a body of water. She needed help from someone from her own time to convince the people at the present time that she and her friends are telling the truth…

She stopped running and looked around her, trying to recognize the area. "Looks like Kalm to me…" she thought to herself before proceeding to a nearby forest. She knew there would be a lake there because in her own time, she once went rowing there with her father and brothers. She hoped that the lake existed even at the present where she was at the moment.

Meanwhile, Cloud and Yuffie were still following after her and they were worried about her because there were dangerous monsters in that forest… but when a few tried to attack her, they just dropped down to the ground, and when Cloud and Yuffie passed by them, they realized that the monsters were already dead.

"Oh my gawd! They're dead!" Yuffie said in a whisper before turning to Cloud, "How the hell did that happen?" she demanded. "Beats me…" Cloud replied with a dumbfounded look on his face before proceeding after Samara. Yuffie instantly rushed after him before another monster could sense them. They only stopped running when they reached a certain distance from Samara who was already standing before a big lake. She put down the candle on the ground, but the wind blew out the flame. She looked up at the skies with a hopeful look on her face, and soon enough, the clouds parted and the full moon revealed itself, shedding its light on the Planet.

Yuffie was in awe. "How does she do that?" she whispered. Cloud was speechless. "This must be what's special in this girl… that's why her future parents are very protective of her…" he pondered silently as he watched her kneel down to the ground near the water and touched the cold surface. "Please come here… please… please… please… please… please…I need you…" the little girl whispered softly.

"What is she doing?" Cloud wondered.

X-x-X-x-X

Aerith felt her heart skip a beat and she looked at Tifa, Rufus, Sephiroth, Yuffie and Cloud. "…She's calling me…" she said.

They were still in Theodore's room where the sleeping bodies of Riku, Sora and Kairi were resting. It was already late at night but they were still awake, waiting for anything good to happen.

Tifa turned to the TV that was still on static ever since Samara had entered through the screen. She was really very worried now. "Who will go?" Rufus asked stiffly as he remained standing by the window.

"I'll go. I think something bad is happening. They might need me." Sephiroth said with a proud smile on his face. "You gotta be kidding me. People back then hated you. Do you want them to freak out once they see you again?" Rufus replied.

"Look who's talking! You were still very mean and uncaring during that time where our kids ended up!" Sephiroth argued.

They all fell silent.

Aerith placed her hands on her hips as she marched up to Rufus, "Rufus!" she said exasperatingly.

Rufus wanted to shoot himself at that moment upon realizing what Aerith had just thought of. Tifa sulked. "Oh no…" she said.

"The only obstacle they could ever have in the time where they are right now would be _you_." Cloud told Rufus.

Rufus took a deep breath. "My bad." He muttered.

Tifa got up from her seat, although she still felt a bit dizzy because of her passing-out moments ago. "I can't stand this any longer. I have to go and see if my daughter is alright!" she said. "No, Tifa, you can't go there. You might confuse them!" Rufus told her.

"Something is happening there! Why else would Samara call on Aerith? I just know!" Tifa pointed out.

"I'll go. You guys stay here." Aerith decided. "What?" Cloud asked. She smiled sweetly at him, "Not to worry, Cloud. I'll be back soon."

Rufus was hesitant. "No, I think I would like to go there myself and… tell myself off." he said with an unsure look on his face. "Mwahaha. The past Rufus is stubborn just like the current one; you think they'll listen to each other?" Sephiroth pointed out while laughing gaily. "Alright, fine, I'll stay here but I won't be at peace. Aerith, I'm counting on you." Rufus told her.

Aerith was just standing still.

"How are you going to go there?" Sephiroth asked.

Aerith blinked and went over to the bathroom. "Somebody has to drown me." She told them as she walked over to the tub. "WHAT?" Cloud demanded as he went to her. "Drown you?" he demanded in disbelief as he watched Aerith open the faucet and plugged the drain. "It's the only way I can think of! I'm not as good as Samara you know?" she said.

"But what if you don't wake up again?" Sephiroth asked with a dumbfounded look on his face.

Cloud began to cry, dropping on his knees and hugging Aerith's legs. "NO! No, no, no, no, no! I can't lose you again!" he bawled. Aerith felt weak in the knees, "Oh Cloud, please stop that…" she said softly.

"Oh stop that bawling, Strife. You're gonna wake up the dead!" Rufus snapped at him.

"Oh. That's how we're gonna wake Aerith up later on. We'll make Cloud cry. So easy! Ohohoho!" Tifa said victoriously.

Cloud glared at her, "Baaaaah! I'm not going to let Aerith die!" he snarled as he let go of Aerith and crawled over to Tifa, attempting to push her backwards for offending his feelings, but he missed, and instead, it was Rufus whom he had pushed backwards. "Bloody hell!" Tifa cried out in shock as Rufus was knocked-out cold.

"Oops…" Cloud said sheepishly.

Aerith began to climb into the tub, sat down and swallowed hard. Sephiroth approached her. "Ready?" he asked stiffly. He doesn't really want to do the dirty job of drowning Aerith for fear of overdoing it and making Cloud hate him forever. "If I struggle to get up, don't let me. Just hold me down." She instructed him. Sephiroth nodded nervously, "Got it." He replied uneasily as he watched her submerge herself into the water. Once she was completely underwater, she opened her eyes and stared straight ahead. She could see Sephiroth and Cloud looking at her, but the latter seemed to be more worried. Sephiroth was checking at the time on his wristwatch.

Aerith could feel her lungs burning but she forced herself to remain submerged. She was running out of air. Cloud could sense that she was slowly losing her life… and he wanted to save her. He had an attempt to pull her up, but Sephiroth stopped him. "No." Sephiroth commanded.

Soon, Aerith had stopped breathing and her eyes gave off a blank stare. Cloud felt the blood drain from his face. It was the same feeling that he felt when he first saw her die several years before. "No…" he had managed to say before he slowly lifted her lifeless body out of the water. "Aerith?" he called out.

She did not answer. Her heart had stopped and her pulse wasn't beating anymore. Sephiroth backed away. "She'll be back, Cloud. She _should_." He wanted to say out loud, but he didn't. He didn't want to provoke any negative emotion from Cloud to himself. "Sephiroth, could you… carry Rufus back inside the bedroom…" Tifa said, interrupting his thoughts. Sephiroth turned around and saw the unconscious Rufus on the floor. "What happened to him?" he asked with a silly smile on his face. "Cloud pushed him." Tifa said with a worried look on her face…

X-x-X-x-X

Cloud and Yuffie watched in awe as a brown-haired woman emerged from the water of the lake. She was wearing a white ruffled blouse, a pink floral skirt (with a length just an inch below her knees), a pink blazer and a pair of white open-toe heeled shoes. "Oh dear… I thought I would drown there!" she spoke breathlessly as she went over to Samara and gave her a hug, "Are you alright? You look afraid," she told the little girl.

"I'm scared, Auntie Aerith! Daddy pushed me… and mommy doesn't care!" Samara began to cry again.

Auntie what?

Cloud couldn't believe his eyes nor his ears… and then he saw another figure clad in white approaching Samara and the woman named Aerith. Cloud's eyes widened further upon recognizing the man, although he looked a bit older. Yuffie's jaw dropped.

"What do you mean your daddy pushed you and your mommy doesn't care?" Rufus demanded from his daughter.

Samara turned her gaze to her father and let go of Aerith, running to him. "Daddy! It's you! It's really you! I'm so happy!" she said happily. Rufus embraced his daughter, patting her back gently and stroking her long hair. "Yes, yes, it's daddy. Tell me, did my younger version hurt you?" he asked her. Samara sniffed and wiped her tears away. "Yes. He pushed me and imprisoned me with mommy in this small room and…-sniff-… I'm scared, daddy!" she wailed.

Aerith shook her head in disbelief. "Goodness, Rufus. Look what your younger version did to your daughter!" she said, meaning to make him feel guilty.

"Well it isn't my fault right now that I was so skeptical and wouldn't believe in anything unless there is a logical explanation to it." Rufus told her.

"And what are you doing here anyway?" she asked.

"Your husband pushed me." He muttered.

Aerith giggled, "Oh I'm sure Cloud didn't mean it!" she said before looking around. "Where are we anyway?" she asked.

Rufus looked around. "I don't know but… it looks too murky around here." He muttered in disgust. "So you drowned?" he asked her. "Yes and I'm probably… dead… back where we come from." She explained.

"What? But how are you going to go back?" Rufus asked.

"Samara can revive me once we return. But to be able to return, we need her pendant," she turned to Samara. Samara withdrew from her father, and Rufus realized that she wasn't wearing the necklace anymore. She felt like shrinking when she realized that her father was staring horridly at her. "Your younger version took it in case you're curious, daddy." She stated flatly, bowing down her head.

Rufus opened his mouth to say something regarding the matter, but he was so speechless, nothing came out.

"I know, daddy, he was very mean!" Samara told him.

Rufus just nodded weakly, "Yes… yes… he was very… mean, indeed…" he said rather hesitantly. Aerith shook her head in dismay, "Shame on you Rufus!" she said, and she froze when they heard something rustling in the bushes.

Samara moved closer to her father, clinging to him as if seeking protection. Rufus held his daughter close to himself as he began to look around and brought out his shotgun.

"Stop, Cloud," Yuffie whispered to Cloud as she held him back within the bushes where they were hiding.

"Why?" Cloud asked.

"They have weapons. What if they kill us before we get the chance to explain?" she told him.

"I demand you, whoever you people are, to come out from your hiding place at this moment," Rufus called out rather airily and then pointed his shotgun at a certain direction where there are several bushes. "Now." He continued.

Cloud was the first one to stand up, and then Yuffie followed.

Aerith gasped. "Cloud!" she exclaimed.

Cloud could not help but gape at her. "…Is that you… Aerith?" he asked rather hesitantly.

Rufus put down his shotgun. "Oh. Just them." He said. Yuffie let out a sigh of relief as he did so. "Gee… I thought you'd shoot us… Rufus." She said.

"So you know." Rufus replied, flipping his hair.

"But how can you be here if you're at the Healin Lodge?" Yuffie asked.

Rufus raised his eyebrows at her, "Well the one you're talking about is sick and is still inside the Healin Lodge. I'm from the future, including this Aerith over here," he pointed at his female companion. Aerith and Cloud were stuck in a moment. Rufus rolled his eyes. "Aerith, that's the younger version of Cloud. Don't ever think of …" he began, but he was too late. Aerith was already running towards Cloud with a happy smile on her face and embraced him tightly. "Oh Cloud! It's me, Aerith!" she said happily.

Cloud was still in a state of shock and he couldn't move. Aerith looked at him and smiled sweetly at him and offered a handshake. "Aerith Strife from the future." She said. He did not answer. She proceeded: "We're gonna have two children in the future and we're gonna name them Sora and Aerial. Isn't that wonderful? Teehee!" she giggled excitedly.

"Alright, that's enough, Aerith. You're shocking him." Rufus told her with a commanding tone.

Yuffie was still staring up at him, and then at Aerith, then at Samara. Samara smiled shyly at her. Yuffie shuddered and looked away, looking up at Rufus again. "So, why did… you and Aerith come here?" she asked.

"Well actually it's only Aerith that's supposed to come here, but I ended up coming along too because her husband knocked me out cold in the bathroom floor of my son's bedroom." He replied with an annoyed look on his face. "So I've heard that… Rufus imprisoned Tifa with Sora, Kairi and Riku… and he currently has my daughter's pendant?" he continued, quite unsure what to call his younger self.

"Well… yeah. Vincent's in the Healin Lodge right now looking for the room where they put the kids with Tifa while I'm supposed to make Cloud help him, but then he got distracted because he saw this ghost… I mean, your daughter pass by and we ended up following her because she looked suspicious." Yuffie explained before cringing and covering her nose, turning back to Cloud, "Hey! While there's a lake nearby, could you clean your boots now?" she requested with a bratty tone. Cloud still couldn't move. Aerith was still talking to him about a lot of things in the future like: "Oh and guess what! You and Rufus will become best buddies along with Vincent, Zack and Sephiroth and then you're going to be the External Vice President of the ShinRa Electric Power Company. Guess what my job is!" she told him. "Uuh…" was all Cloud could say in awe. He was still stunned. "I'm Rufus's Public Relations Officer! Oh, and you know our son Sora is such a star, he snagged the lead role for Kingdom Hearts!" she proceeded. "…Uuuh….." he was still stunned. She giggled. "And our daughter is so talented; she can play the keyboard and the piano and she can sing too! She also plays the violin and guess what her weapon is!" she said.

"Uuh…" Cloud was still stunned. He was speechless, and he wanted to cry out of joy and excitement upon seeing Aerith again and hearing about his wonderful future together with her, but he could not express utmost joy at that moment.

"She uses the Muramasa. And once she had a little duel with Sephiroth and she almost beat him! Isn't that great! You trained her really well, Cloud!" Aerith said proudly.

"I… did? I mean… I _will_?" he finally responded.

"Cloud," Rufus caught his attention. Cloud instantly turned to him, and then to Samara. They were looking rather disgusted with him. "Please clean your boots." Yuffie requested.

Cloud looked down at his boots and remembered the Chocobo manure. "Oh." He said.

"Oh don't be silly, I don't see anything wrong with it!" Aerith said.

"Aerith, he stepped on Chocobo manure and it smells like horse and buffalo dung combined!" Rufus pointed out. Aerith sniffed the air. "I don't smell anything," she pointed out. Rufus rolled his eyes, "Oh. Right. You don't smell anything. You don't smell anything if Cloud is the one who stinks like bloody hell!" he pointed out before turning away, taking Samara with her, "Come on, let's get going to the Healin Lodge. We have to get your pendant back. You're mother is getting worried sick of you, she can lose her mind anytime." Rufus told her. "Okay, daddy," she said, skipping happily.

Yuffie follwed after them, mindlessly leaving Cloud and Aerith behind.

Cloud went to the lake to rid his boots of Chocobo manure. Aerith waited by a tree, watching him with a loving smile on her face.

"Is there anything on your mind that you still want to know, Cloud?" Aerith asked softly.

He stopped. "Why should I still ask? I'm sure I'm just going to be brainwashed again along with the others so that I can forget that Sora and the others will exist in the future." He replied. She chuckled lightly. "Typical Cloud. Stubborn as usual." She muttered softly before she approached him and sat down beside him on the lake's shore. Cloud looked at her with a miserable look on his face and she clearly saw the sorrow in his eyes. Her facial expression softened and she smiled kindly at him. "Things will be much better in the future for you, Cloud. Don't you ever think that you are alone. I have always been there for you." She leaned closer to him and gave him a kiss on the cheek. "Aerith will be back to meet you again. All you have to do is to have a little more faith in her." She told him.

Cloud could have cherished that moment forever, but it ended quickly when Samara interrupted them. "Auntie Aerith, Cloud, daddy says you should stop those honky-honkies and come along now because we're running out of time." She said.

Aerith laughed. "Tell your daddy that Cloud and I are not doing honky-honkies." She said as she got up and went to the little girl.

Cloud just looked at them with a contemplative stare before he got up. "Good as new…" he muttered, referring to his boots, and went to Aerith and Samara. "Let's go." He said, leading the way.

* * *

to be continued once I get more inspiration... 


	9. Nine

Kids

Nine

* * *

The lights flickered.

They came back on.

Tifa, Riku, Sora and Kairi were relieved that there is electricity again. "Thank goodness…" Kairi breathed out a sigh of relief.

"Samara must've calmed down already. I wonder how." Sora thought out loud, turning to Tifa and Riku to see any reaction. Tifa just kept quiet and looked away from him. Sora noticed that she did not even touch her food. "Aren't you going to eat, Auntie Tifa?" he asked.

"Will you stop calling me _Auntie_?" she pleaded with a confused look on her face.

Sora just shrugged. "Gee… I'd like to, but I feel uncomfortable just calling you _Tifa_." He stated flatly.

Tifa was supposed to say something else but she was interrupted when Riku suddenly reacted, "Dad!" as he was looking at the small window of the door. They all turned to the door and saw Vincent there, waving at them. "Is everyone alright?" he asked.

"Oh, Vincent! Thank goodness you came!" Tifa said as she got up and went to the door with a pleased look on her face.

Vincent turned to his left when he sensed that there were guards approaching. He motioned for Tifa and the others that he will come back before leaving, going to the opposite direction.

Tifa backed away from the door.

Sora and Riku went to her, "Is he going to get us out of here?" the former asked.

"Yes. But we'll have to wait for a while. I think there are guards coming." Tifa replied.

The guards just passed by, ignoring them, noticing nothing unusual.

"We'll just have to wait for Vincent." Tifa continued. She turned to face Kairi and Samara, "Girls, are you prepared to leave…" she trailed off when she realized that only Kairi was there. She blinked. "Where is… Samara?" she asked.

Kairi blinked. "Maybe she's under the bed…"

Riku went to the bed and peeked underneath it. "Nope. No one here." He declared.

Sora groaned. "Oh man! Where did she go?" he asked, looking around the room. The little girl was nowhere to be found.

"She's really scaring me now… where did she go?" Kairi asked, shuddering.

"Relax, she could just be… hiding?" Tifa asked, although she was unsure.

"Don't be ridiculous. There aren't any more hiding places in this room aside from that bed." Riku told her.

Tifa began to freak out. "EEKS!" she covered her face and began to pace across the room. She removed her hands from her face and raked her hands through her hair. "I don't want to think that she's a freak… but… I CAN'T STOP MYSELF!" she cried out in panic.

"Hey, hey, calm down! She's not a ghost or anything…. Although she never really disappeared without a trace before…" Riku said, feeling his hairs rising.

"She must've gone back to our time!" Kairi declared to Sora and Riku.

"How can she go back to our time? Her pendant is with the President, remember?" Riku asked.

"Oh you're right…" Kairi said, bowing down her head and frowning, thinking of other ways on how Samara could just disappear. But she couldn't think of any. She felt her knees getting weaker, "Oh Samara, please don't scare us like this!" she said with a trembling voice.

X-x-X-x-X

Reno and Rude were seated by the front entrance of the Healin Lodge. "You know I think one of us should go upstairs and check on the President. The assailant might go there." Reno said. "I'll do it." Rude volunteered as he got up and then left.

Ever since the lights came back on, they found the sleeping guard outside, and that's when they realized that there are intruders inside the area. "It's strange. We've searched the whole building but we couldn't find suspicious people… if it's AVALANCHE, well, they're pretty good this time…" Reno was thinking as he crossed his arms. ShinRa lacks security and there are only three Turks remaining: himself, Rude and Elena. As for Elena, she has taken a leave and they do not know when she will be back. He was beginning to nod off to sleep when he realized that people were approaching. He got up and brought out his electric rod just in case those people would attempt something bad against him, but he was stunned when he recognized them… "Isn't she supposed to be…" Reno began, gaping at Aerith.

Aerith Strife smiled at him. "Hello, Reno." She greeted. And Reno turned to the other blonde man with her. Rufus ShinRa.

Reno frowned. "Oh no… don't tell me…" he said.

"Let us through." Rufus commanded.

Reno sighed. "Okay, but make sure not to confuse me later with your younger self." He muttered as he gave way to them. "It will be easy to distinguish which is which. He's wearing a hood and he… looks quite hideous… and I look much better." Rufus replied, raking his fingers through his hair with a proud smile on his face before Aerith pushed him forward to make him proceed. "Watch it, Strife," he sneered at her. She just giggled.

Aerith offered a handshake to Reno, "You and Elena make such a great couple!" she said. Reno was stunned as she shook his hand eagerly and then she let go and went after Rufus. Cloud just smiled weakly at Reno before following after them.

Yuffie walked up to Reno, "You're very lucky you already know who you're going to marry! Up to now they're still keeping it as a secret from me!" she said with a disappointed look on her face before following Cloud.

Reno turned to Samara and his eyes widened, "How the hell did you get out?" he demanded.

She smiled slyly at him, "Do you really wanna know?" she asked.

Knowing how creepy this kid could be, he just shook his head. "Never mind. You must've turned yourself into gas and seeped through the small space under the door." He muttered.

She looked up at the skies quite thoughtfully before looking at him again, "…hmm… close." She said before running inside.

Reno shivered. "Brr… creepy kid…" he muttered with a frown on his face.

X-x-X-x-X

Rufus stopped before he could climb up the stairs going to the second floor. Aerith and Cloud finally got upstairs and turned back to him, "What's the matter?" she asked.

Rufus thought for a while before saying, "I think you can handle Rufus on your own." And he smiled slightly at her.

Aerith smiled back at him. "Okay." She said before proceeding with Cloud.

Yuffie turned back to Rufus. "Where are you going?" she asked.

"I'm freeing Tifa." He replied before turning to Samara, "You follow Cloud and your Auntie Aerith upstairs and get your pendant and brainwash the President, okay?" he asked.

"I'll brainwash you?" Samara asked with a look of awe on her face.

"No, you will brainwash Rufus." Rufus told her. It sounded vague. He shook his head. "Alright… let me put it this way… you will brainwash the bad man who pushed you earlier, okay? So that he will not remember anything that happened. And then you ask Cloud who else knew about the future, okay?" he asked.

"Okay, daddy. I got it. I was just playing dumb. Hee!" Samara with a silly smile on her face before running up the stairs.

"Careful!" he told her.

"I will, daddy!" she said before she disappeared through the second floor hallway.

"Gee… you got a soft spot for your daughter, huh?" Yuffie asked him with a silly smile on her face.

Rufus just eyed her coldly, "Mind your own business." He said as he moved away from her and went to the first floor hallway next to the receptionist's desk.

Yuffie laughed and went after him. "Gee… this is unbelievable. So Rufus ShinRa does have a heart." She said teasingly.

Rufus just rolled his eyes and continued to walk but he stopped in his tracks when he saw Vincent Valentine standing before a door of a certain room. Rufus knew at once that Tifa and the rest are inside. "Vincent," Rufus called out as he rushed to him.

Vincent turned his gaze to the blonde man clad in white who was approaching him and he blinked. "How did you… I thought you're… on a wheelchair?" he asked in confusion.

"Vincent, this is Rufus ShinRa from the future." Yuffie corrected.

Vincent blinked. "Oh. I see… well hello, nice to meet you," he said with a look of awe on his face.

"I know. Now step aside," Rufus instructed rather coldly as he got a card key from his pocket.

"How did you get that from…" Vincent began, but Rufus instantly answered, "I did not. This is a standard key that I possess. It works for all the doors of the buildings that ShinRa owns." He inserted the card key into the slot and turned back to Vincent. "Developed by Doctor Lucrecia Valentine." He continued before he finally opened the door, surprising the people inside.

"Uncle Rufus!" Sora exclaimed happily, jumping up and rushing to him, hugging him tightly. Kairi smiled happily and went to Rufus, hugging him with Sora. "Oh Uncle Rufus! I'm so glad you came!" she said.

Rufus was just quiet with a ridiculous look on his face before turning to Riku. "Aren't you going to give me a hug?" he asked with sarcasm.

Riku just smiled sheepishly. "Eheheh…" he chuckled lightly.

"Mommy!" Kairi went over to Yuffie and hugged her.

Yuffie felt awkward. "Eh… right…" she said rather hesitantly, forcing herself to hug the girl.

Riku turned back to Tifa who was standing in one corner and staring unbelievably at Rufus. "Hey, c'mon, let's get out of here before the other Rufus catches us!" Riku told her, interrupting her thoughts.

Tifa just continued to stare.

Rufus turned to them, "You all go ahead away from here. I'll take care of Tifa." He told them. "Okay," Riku said, leading the way out of the Healin Lodge. Kairi and Sora followed after him. Yuffie decided to go upstairs. Vincent remained with Rufus. "Tifa, let's go," he said.

Tifa slowly moved towards the door with an unsure look on her face, staring up at Rufus with a frightened look on her face. He looked away for a while, blinking in thought. "Do I look horrendous?" he asked, turning back to her with a curious smile on his face. A curious but charming smile. She swallowed hard and stiffened, shaking her head in a no. "Well then why are you so afraid of me?" he asked.

"She is not afraid, I think she is mortified." Vincent pointed out.

"Let's just go upstairs. I'm worried about my daughter." Rufus said, leading the way.

Vincent turned to Tifa. "Come along now," he said.

Tifa was hesitant for a few more moments before she nodded silently and just followed Rufus and Vincent.

X-x-X-x-X

Rufus ShinRa, still covered in those white sheets and seated on his wheelchair, slowly turned his wheelchair towards the door when he heard a thudding sound. The sound of a person landing on the wooden ground. He frowned slightly. "Rude?" he called out, knowing that the bald Turk was supposedly standing on-guard outside. But instead of the bald Turk entering the room, it was Cloud Strife with a more mature Aerith Gainsborough… and the little girl with long black hair who called him "daddy" earlier. Rufus turned to the floor outside and saw that Rude was lying there as if sleeping. "What did you do to him?" he demanded.

"Relax, Rufus. Your future daughter just put him to sleep for a while. When he wakes up, he will have no more recollection of who she is and what happened." Aerith pointed out with a bright smile on her face as she and Samara approached him.

Rufus was still holding the pendant as he stared at Samara with a frown on his face. He can somewhat sense from the girl that she was studying his thoughts and that she was the one who had caused the massive black-out moments ago. "Why did you come here anyway?" he sneered.

She knelt down before him, resting her small pale hands on his knees and smiled up at him, "Don't worry, daddy. I will never bother you again." she said. Aerith instantly grabbed the pendant and moved away from Rufus. Rufus tried to snatch it back, but he just toppled over, landing on the floor. He hissed in pain.

"Oops." Aerith reacted in surprise. She did not mean for that to happen. She attempted to help him but he pushed her away from himself. "Stay away from me and to not touch me! I don't know how you really got here but…" he sneered at her, but he trailed off when he saw another blonde man enter the room. A blonde man who looks like himself. His eyes widened upon seeing him. It was like seeing himself in front of the mirror, only this time, there is not a mirror in sight and this man looked older and more mature than he is. The man knelt down before him and pulled off the sheet that was hiding his face, exposing him to the others. "You will learn how to be nicer… though it will take some time. But don't worry, that young lady over there will help you," he told Rufus with cold look on his face and then looked back to Tifa. Tifa just stood by the doorway with a confused look on her face as she stared down at Rufus.

The other man got up and moved away while Samara approached the Rufus on the floor, struggling to get up. Samara touched his forehead and muttered, "Good night."

In a matter of seconds, the younger version of Rufus ShinRa was asleep.

"He's not so dangerous after all." Aerith told Rufus, nudging him with a teasing smile on her face. "Shut up." Rufus muttered to her. Aerith turned to Samara and fastened the necklace around her neck. "There you go." She said. Samara checked her pendant, bowing down her head to look at it. "Needs polishing, daddy." She told her father. "Don't worry, we'll polish it when we get home." He told Samara before turning to Tifa. "Come here." He told her.

Tifa swallowed hard before approaching him with a slight frown on her face. She could not bear to look up at him for a reason that she could not understand. She was fighting the urge to blush. She stopped before him but she would not look at him, Samara tapped her arm to make her look at her. Tifa did so and she wondered why the little girl was smiling at her. "Daddy loved you even before you knew he did, mommy." she said softly before turning her gaze to the sleeping younger version of Rufus ShinRa on the floor. Tifa felt her heart skip a beat when she heard that. She looked up at Rufus with a look of awe on her face. He smiled softly at her, a smile that she hasn't seen in someone like Rufus… ever. Although she felt rather embarrassed and nervous at the same time when he just moved closer to her and kissed her cheek. "I'll see you, Tifa." He whispered in her ear… and then she felt Samara squeeze her hand.

Tifa felt her knees getting weak and soon, they gave way to her weight and she collapsed to the floor, sleeping.

"You just had to do that." Aerith pointed out to Rufus.

"I can't help it. Besides, what right can prevent me from kissing the younger version of my wife?" Rufus responded coolly as he flipped his hair.

"It's like kissing another woman." Aerith said jokingly.

"Well you kissed Cloud." Rufus told her.

She laughed at him, "Touché!" she said before turning to Samara, "Next stop, the guards… and then Reno, and then we go back to the house in Kalm." Aerith told her.

Samara nodded.

"Are you going to leave Tifa here?" Vincent asked them.

"No. He'll wonder why she's here and might freak out." Rufus told him, referring to his younger version.

"Next thing I'll know she'll wake up with amnesia. I can't believe you let her head hit the floor!" Aerith told Rufus, inspecting Tifa's unconscious state on the floor.

"Oh it will be alright. She's not bleeding anyway." Rufus replied, raking his fingers through his hair.

"Who knows, she could have a concussion." Vincent said.

"No. Trust me. She is not bleeding, even internally. She's had a lot of head injuries before even when she was nursing our first set of twins." Rufus told them reassuringly.

"Don't tell me you're an abusive husband?" Vincent asked in disbelief.

Rufus frowned at him, "No, you ninny! Of course not! The kids hit her head with the feeding bottle or a rattle!" he pointed out.

"Well… she has her _moments_, if you know what I mean… you think she hit her head when Sephiroth almost killed her years ago?" Cloud asked them curiously.

Rufus was just silent. "Are you trying to imply that my wife is stupid?" he asked.

Cloud just smiled and shrugged, "I was just asking, Rufus." He pointed out before looking around, "Where… where's Sora?" Cloud asked.

"He's back at home now, Cloud. C'mon." Yuffie said, going ahead.

"You go ahead, I'll accompany Samara to the guards and the other people who saw her here so that she can put them to sleep." Aerith told them.

"I'll go with you," Cloud offered. Aerith smiled at him. "Sure." She said nicely.

Rufus got Tifa off the floor, carrying her. "You need help?" Vincent asked. Rufus shook his head. "No. She's so much lighter now compared to where I come from." He said with a sly smile on his face before proceeding to the door. Vincent fought the urge to smile and laugh at what Rufus said as he followed after him.

* * *

To be continued... yet again. 


	10. Ten

Kids  
by Riquisel Yutifae

Author's Note: I know it's been quite a while, but it's here! Go on and read! But if you have anything against it, just leave it alone.

* * *

**Ten**

* * *

Barret and Red XIII were relieved that Sora, Kairi and Riku finally arrived home. "Ye'r all back!" Barret said, glad that the three are safe.

"Uncle Barret!" Sora and Kairi all ran to him and gave him a hug. Barret had an urge to give the two a big bear hug, so he did. Riku never really liked bear hugs because he feels uncomfortable so he refused to join the group bear hug.

"What happened?" Red XIII asked. "Where have you kids been?" Barret asked, letting go of them.

"We got locked up in the Healin Lodge but we're okay now. Uncle Rufus saved us from his mean younger version." Kairi said happily.

Barret's smile faded. "What?" he asked, hearing the name.

"Oh, don't get us wrong. He's not mean in the future. I guess he was just confused right here that's why he acted so badly even towards Samara here." Sora pointed out.

"Samara?" Red XIII asked.

The door burst open and there was the older Rufus with Vincent and an unconscious Tifa. Barret gasped and instantly got up, aiming his gun-arm at Rufus. "Whoa! What the goddamn hell is going on here?" he demanded, eyeing Rufus, but then he frowned slightly. "He looks kinda different…" he continued.

"This is Uncle Rufus from the future." Kairi introduced.

Rufus eyed Barret rather warningly, "I'm going to have to request you to put down your gun-arm; you might give Sora and his friends a traumatic experience just by pointing that against my face with Tifa still in my arms." He said calmly but with a cold air in his tone.

Barret was still dumbfounded but he obeyed. "Okay but how am I gonna be sure I can trust dis foo'?" he asked, turning to Vincent. "And how do I make sure you're not the Vincent from the future?" he demanded.

"Relax, my dad wears the Turk uniform. This one doesn't. In our time, he just wears that red cape ensemble when he's at home and chillin'." Riku pointed out with a proud smile on his face.

"Where can I put here?" Rufus asked, interrupting them.

"Just put her upstairs. You can tell where her bedroom is, I'm sure." Vincent said.

Rufus looked around and made a disgusted face, "This is such a small shack. How can you take living here?" he asked rather airily.

"Hey if yer just gonna insult dis haus…" Barret began, but Riku interrupted, "Hey, relax, Uncle Barret. It's just typical of him to say something like that." He explained.

Rufus went upstairs, "Gee… I just pity your condition. You're very lucky you are going to marry someone like me. I can save you from your poverty and sorrow." He muttered to the sleeping Tifa.

"That sounded so…" Barret realized.

"…so nasty." Vincent continued before looking around, "Where is Yuffie anyway? I thought she went ahead of us already?" he asked.

And the Ninja girl arrived, panting hard. "Hey!" she greeted. And an unbearable smell followed. "Ugh! Where did you come from?" Barret demanded, covering his nose.

Vincent turned even paler because of the smell. "Oh." He covered his nose and turned away.

Kairi wrinkled her nose while Sora and Riku decided to open the windows to let some fresh air in. "Mom! Go wash your boots!" Kairi told her with a disgusted look on her face.

"Heehee! I stepped on Chocobo Manure!" Yuffie said proudly before taking off her boots and left them outside. "I'll do it in the morning… or I'll tell Cloud or Tifa to wash them for me." She said before closing the door.

"That's called karma because you were making fun of Cloud." Vincent pointed out.

"I _wasn't_ making fun of Cloud, Vincent…" Yuffie muttered before looking away with a mean smile on her face, "Alright, I admit it, it was quite funny when he stepped on Chocobo Manure. Nyuk nyuk nyuk nyuk." She snickered rather evilly. Kairi giggled and said something in Gongagan, and they were all surprised at her. "You know how to speak in another language?" Yuffie demanded in shock.

"Why yes. I know how to speak two kinds of Wutaian which would be Nihongo and Mandarin, and then Midgarian English, and then Gongagan…" Kairi began.

"Her dad is Gongagan." Riku pointed out with his arms crossed and with a sly smile on his face as if waiting for any violent reaction from Yuffie.

Yuffie's jaw dropped.

Kairi seemed to be looking past her, at the door that was slowly opening but Yuffie did not seem to notice it because she was busily minding the fact that her future husband is going to come from Gongaga, the poorest country in the Planet. It's going to upset her father.

Kairi smiled slightly and looked up at her future mother again. "You really want to know his name?" she asked.

"Like, yeah?" Yuffie replied with an impatient and annoyed look on her face.

"Okay, his name is Zack." Kairi replied proudly.

Before Yuffie could react further, she felt someone grab her right wrist. She looked down and saw a small white hand holding it… and then she just lost consciousness and fell to the ground. Samara instantly let go of her before she could fall down with her to the floor.

"You know I kinda regret telling her because she'll just forget it eventually when she wakes up." Kairi pointed out with a guilty look on her face.

"Nah. Don't mind her. She's the past anyway." Riku said, yawning. Samara walked over to Barret who was gaping at her. "Aren't you the…" he began.

She just smiled. "In the flesh, Uncle Barret." She said before putting him to sleep. Barret fell onto the sofa.

Aerith just stood outside the house while Cloud stood by the doorway, watching as Samara continued to put Red XIII and then Vincent to sleep.

"Isn't Uncle Vinny going to wonder why he's sleeping on the floor?" Sora asked.

"Nah. Dad's gonna be like, '_Oh, why am I sleeping on the floor? I must've been so tired last night. Oh well_.' And then he'll forget all about it." Riku explained with a humorless look on his face… and even imitated the British accent.

Silence.

Aerith giggled. "He does act like that, right Cloud?" she asked. Cloud turned to her with a curious look on his face. She just smiled sweetly at him. "I'll see you, Cloud." She said, welcoming him with open arms.

Cloud stared at her for a while, feeling so hurtful. He wanted to weep but he was stopping himself. He slowly moved towards Aerith, but just as when he was about to reach her, Samara lightly touched his lower back and uttered, "Sleep".

And he fell forward. Aerith had managed to catch him in her arms, but since he was too heavy for her, she could not support his weight so she had to let go of him so that she wouldn't fall backwards. His landed on the ground, his face landing on Yuffie's boots… the boots that still have Chocobo Manure on it.

"AAACK!" Aerith, Sora, Riku and Samara all reacted in disgust.

"GROSSNESS!" Kairi wailed.

Silence.

Aerith could not determine whether she would laugh or cry or panic, but she was chuckling in confusion. "Aha ha ha… uhm… a little help here?" she asked, moving Cloud away from the boots.

"I'll go get some tissue and some soap and water, mom. Hah hah… hah hah…" Sora offered, trying to stop himself from cracking up, as he proceeded to the kitchen.

"Eeeeeeeew. Yuck. Yuck. Yuck!" Riku was wailing in disgust. "If that happens to me I'll kill myself!" he cried out in disgust, turning away from the scene.

"Oh stop acting like your father, Riku!" Aerith told him with a funny smile on her face.

Riku just cringed. "Brr… that's really disgusting. I don't think I'll be going on trips to Kalm for now if I want to avoid Chocobo Manure…" he muttered.

"Hee hee." Samara snickered.

Kairi went over to the sofa and got a throw pillow and placed it underneath Yuffie's head. "There you go. So that you wouldn't complain about stiff necks." She said gently before giving her mother a kiss on the cheek and got up and went to her Auntie Aerith. "Let's take him inside," she told her.

Aerith nodded and with enough help from Kairi, Riku and Samara, they were able to drag Cloud inside.

Sora finally arrived back in the living room area with soap, tissue and water. While Aerith and Sora were cleaning Cloud's face, Riku was wondering how they were going to drag Cloud's body upstairs back to his own room, because it might look awkward if a majority of them are all sleeping on the floor except for Tifa and Marlene.

…

"Marlene!" Riku exclaimed.

"Where is she?" Kairi asked.

"Did she see you?" Aerith asked with a worried look on her face.

"…Yes." Sora replied weakly.

They were silent for a while before Samara decided to go upstairs to check on the rooms if the kid Marlene is sleeping in one of those. And they heard a shrill scream for a brief moment.

Silence.

"What was that?" Riku called out from downstairs.

Samara descended the stairs again, looking disturbed. "She's… in her own bedroom… and she screamed when she saw me. I think I scared her. But don't worry, I put her to sleep already." She explained.

"Oh good," Aerith said, sighing in relief with a gentle smile on her face. "And Yuffie too… we have to put her someplace else." She decided.

"Yeah. It doesn't look good. She and my dad are on the floor." Riku said, frowning and eyeing the two with an irritated stare.

"Riku, you've got muscles. I think you're strong enough to carry her. After all she seems light." Kairi told him.

Riku shrugged. "Okay." He said, going to Yuffie and lifting her up carefully. "Gee… she's as light as Sora." He said.

Silence.

"What the bloody hell did you mean by that?" Samara demanded, her eyes narrowing. Kairi looked mortified as he stared horridly at Riku.

Riku snapped at them, "Hey, it's not _what you're thinking_! You know Sora and I sometimes wrestle in the sand in Destiny Island!"

"Hmf." Samara just crossed her arms and stepped aside, giving way to Riku so that he could pass and go upstairs.

Kairi crossed her arms, eyeing Riku suspiciously. He sensed it and just said, "Aw c'mon, Kairi! Don't listen to your fangirl classmates! They're nuts!"

Aerith was finally done cleaning Cloud's face.

"I'll just put these away." Sora said, getting the basin of water, tissue and soap again and brought them back to the kitchen.

Aerith got up. "Where in the world is Rufus? What's taking him so long? I want him to take Cloud upstairs… but he's not yet here?" she asked, putting her hands on her hips with a suspicious look on her face.

"Last thing I heard he's going upstairs to take Auntie Tifa to her room." Kairi pointed out.

Riku came down again. "Alright. Auntie Yuffie's back in her room." He said once he reached the first floor again.

"Did you see your Uncle Rufus?" Aerith asked.

Riku frowned slightly, shaking his head. "Nope."

"I wonder where he is… Samara, could you go upstairs and check on your father?" Aerith asked the little girl who was just standing by the stairs. The little girl nodded before proceeding upstairs.

Sora returned to the living room, wiping his hands on his shorts. "Done." He said proudly.

Kairi went to the door and opened it again, looking at the soiled boots of her mother. "Gee. I think I should clean them so that she wouldn't worry about what happened to it when she wakes up in the morning." She told them.

"Yeah. You'd better." Riku told her.

She stepped outside and got the boots, taking them to the backyard and washed it with the garden hose. She was done in a jiffy and went back inside. "I guess they'll dry by themselves. I'll take them upstairs to her room." She said before rushing upstairs.

Aerith checked her watch. It read 4:00am. "We'd better hurry… where's Rufus?" she was thinking.

Samara came running down the stairs with a disturbed look on her face. "Aaaaaah! Auntie Aerith!" she wailed, running to her and then hugging her.

Aerith blinked. "Why? What's the matter?" she asked in worry.

"I… -sniff-…opened the door and… -sniff- aaaaaaaah!" Samara cried.

Aerith raised an eyebrow as she took a sharp intake of breath. "I… see…" she said with a dumbfounded expression on her face. "Riku, could you please take care of her for a while? I have to check on your Uncle Rufus upstairs…" she said, passing on Samara to Riku who was just standing by the stairs.

Riku just smiled slyly, "Sure," he said, raising his eyebrows as he took Samara into his arms. "There, there, stop crying." He said rather gently, which surprised Sora.

"What are you looking at?" Riku demanded from his friend.

Sora flashed him a teasing smile, "SCORE!" he cheered for Riku while flashing the U-Rock hand signal. Riku just made a face at him. Samara pushed him away from herself and dusted herself. "You nasty boys…" she muttered miserably before deciding to just sit down in one corner and lament.

"Aw c'mon, what did you see up there anyway?" Riku asked, feeling dismayed.

"You wouldn't wanna know. Sora might laugh." She replied miserably.

Kairi arrived downstairs. "What's going on?" she asked.

Before anyone could answer, they heard Aerith yelling, "And you accuse me of doing honky-honkies with Cloud! You oughtta be ashamed of yourself!"

"I was just removing her shoes, socks and belt so that she will be comfortable!" they heard Rufus respond.

Silence.

After a few moments, the two adults were descending the stairs with Rufus leading the way and Aerith guilt-tripping him. "Alright, alright. Fine. I sneaked a few kisses, so what?" Rufus asked.

"That's unfair. I'm kissing Cloud too." Aerith told him before turning to Cloud who was still sleeping soundly on the floor, but Rufus lifted him up just in time. "No. We'll bring him upstairs first to his room and put him comfortably on his bed." He said before going upstairs again. "Bloody hell… he's too heavy…" he muttered. Aerith followed after him.

"I wonder what will happen if Auntie Tifa was the one who went here instead of Uncle Rufus." Kairi thought out loud.

"If that happens, we'll still be in the Healin Lodge by now…" Riku muttered.

Samara turned to him unbelievably.

He blinked at her, "What?" he asked, totally clueless.

She just made a face and turned away again.

"No, what if it was Uncle Sephiroth!" Sora suggested.

"Hmm…" the four of them began to think. And they laughed.

"What's so funny, kids?" Rufus asked once he got down from the stairs again with Aerith.

The four stopped laughing. "…nothing Uncle Rufus." Sora responded.

"Well… everyone's been put to sleep already…" Aerith said, looking around.

"Shall we go?" Sora asked.

"Yes. We should." Rufus told them.

"Let's go outside. I'll transport us back in the forest in the lake." Samara told them, leading the way.

"Like, how?" Kairi asked.

"I'll create a portal there. And then we can dive into the lake. Hee!" Samara responded.

Rufus cringed. "Oh no… my suit is going to get wet." He thought miserably.

X-x-X-x-X

On to the last chapter…


	11. Eleven

Kids

By Riquisel Yutifae

Author's Note: This is like the epilogue. Enjoy.

* * *

Eleven

* * *

_7:00 am…_

Cloud slowly opened his eyes, his sleep disturbed by the chirping of the birds from outside. He blinked, adjusting his vision in the bright room. The sunlight was hitting his face directly. He groaned and turned away from it, slowly getting up and scratching his head. "What a night… I feel like I've been hit by a truck…" he muttered to himself as he got up from bed. But it felt like he was still in dreamland.

Last night, he had a long "dream" but he could not clearly point out at that moment what happened. But he could remember seeing Aerith there.

Deciding to go to the bathroom outside in the hallway, he opened the door, got out and went straight to the bathroom. Seeing that the door is closed, he knocked. "You in there, Tifa?" he called out, knowing that at that hour, Tifa would be awake already and hogging the bathroom doing her morning rituals inside.

No answer.

Puzzled, he turned to the door of Tifa's room and saw that it was open but she was still asleep inside. "Strange. She must've stayed up late last night…" he thought before entering the bathroom. "Oh well, at least this one's mine for the taking. Heheh…" he thought victoriously before shutting the door and then locked it so that no one would disturb him. The way he shut the door was by way of slamming it, causing Tifa to get awakened by it, surprising her.

"What the--…" she thought mindlessly, sitting up. She stared at her door. "Why is this open?" she mumbled in complete confusion before getting up to step outside her room, examining the hallway. No one there. She looked back inside her room and glanced at her clock on her bedside table. 7:10 am.

"Oh dear… I overslept…" she thought before deciding to go to Marlene's room. The door was also open. She frowned slightly and saw that the little girl was still asleep. "Gee… she's still sleeping." She thought before going downstairs. She was surprised at the scenario: Yuffie sleeping on the couch, Vincent sleeping on the floor with Red XIII, and Barret sleeping on the other couch. She gaped at them. "Was there a party here last night?" she asked out loud in total bewilderment. She bent down and began to shake Vincent, "Vincent?" she called out with a worried look on her face.

Vincent slowly roused. "…Oh… hello, Tifa." He greeted rather sleepily. And he blinked, stiffening. "…what am I doing on the floor?" he asked as he sat up in bewilderment. His eyes were wide in wonder as he looked around. He slowly got up and dusted himself.

"I was supposed to ask you that." Tifa told him as she got up and proceeded to the kitchen.

"Oh well." Vincent stated flatly, shrugging it off. He looked at Yuffie and Barret who were still asleep. "Why are they sleeping here?" he asked.

"I don't know." Tifa said, feeling weird as she began to prepare breakfast. "You know there's something weird about this morning." She pointed out.

Vincent nodded, feeling rather uncomfortable as he walked to the kitchen and took a seat. "Yes, yes. And I thought I had a good dream but now I couldn't remember what happened there." He said with a confused look on his face.

"Me too!" Tifa said, surprised.

They were silent for a while until they heard Yuffie say, "Oh my Gawd… what am I doing sleeping on this couch? Grossness!" and she went over to them with a disturbed look on her face. "Oh. You guys are up early." She told them.

"…You mean you don't know what you're doing on that couch?" Tifa asked.

Yuffie shrugged. "I don't even know why I'm sleeping there! I never sleep on couches unless it's naptime!" she said before shaking her head and proceeded to the stairs. "I must've dozed off yesterday afternoon and then it lasted longer than expected…" she muttered.

"Oh well. It must've been a tiring day for us yesterday." Tifa pointed out although she was still confused.

* * *

Sora sat still by his parents' bed, watching them sleeping. It was 11 in the morning but they were still asleep. Sora had to make himself and his sister breakfast since their parents had a long and rough night because of what happened. When they had returned to the present, it took them three hours before they got to go home again to their house in Sector 2 because President Rufus was still bothered by what Samara had done.

A soft smile was playing on Sora's lips every now and then especially when he would see his mother stir in her sleep, and everytime he would hear his father grunt and embrace his mother.

Aerith had a peaceful look on her face when she turned her head towards the sunlight seeping through the heavy drapery of the masters' bedroom. The sunlight directly hit her face, and upon feeling its warmth against her skin, she slowly opened her eyes, frowning slightly because of annoyance, but she felt at ease when she realized that her son was seated by the bed and looking at her with a smile on his face. She smiled, "Sora," she said softly in a sleepy whisper.

It woke Cloud up and he was surprised to see his son there in the room. "…Gee… what are you doing here? What time is it?" he asked.

"Around 11 am, dad." Sora replied as he mindlessly glanced at his wristwatch.

Aerith's eyes widened. "Oh dear… I failed to wake up to cook you breakfast…" she said with an attempt to sit up and get off the bed so that she could rush to the kitchen, but Sora stopped her, "Hey, no, ma! Just relax there. I fixed breakfast for myself and for Aerial. If you want I can cook our lunch too!" Sora said brightly.

Cloud wondered why his son was suddenly acting like that. "Well… that's a surprise…" he began as he sat up on bed and reached out to pat Sora's head. "What has gotten into you and you're suddenly watching me and your mother sleep, huh?" he demanded with a slight smile on his face.

"Well at least I didn't catch you doing some honky-honkies. Hahah!" Sora joked while laughing.

Cloud and Aerith were shocked upon hearing that.

Sora stopped laughing and cleared his throat. "Uhm… I'm just… glad that you're together, that's all." He said before bowing down his head with a faint smile on his face. "You see, when I was transported back to the past and met daddy's younger self, I… felt pity on him. I mean, I haven't seen so much sorrow in dad's eyes before until I met his younger version. And all because mommy's not yet there." He looked at his parents again, "You could just imagine how hard it was for me to keep it a secret from him on how she came back. I wanted to tell him how so that I could see him happy with her, but I thought twice about it and realized that there's always a right time for everything." He explained.

Aerith smiled gently at her son. "Oh Sora," she sat up and welcomed her son in her arms. Sora jumped onto the bed and embraced his mother tightly, "I love you, mom. I can't imagine where me and dad would be without you." He said with tears in his eyes.

Cloud smiled lovingly at his wife and son. "What a way to start a day. With tears." He said as he wiped the tears streaming down from his son's eyes down his cheeks.

Sora chuckled lightly. "Gee… sorry if I'm crying, dad… I just… couldn't help it…" he said rather sheepishly.

"It's fine, Sora. There's nothing wrong with crying." Cloud told his son reassuringly as he patted his back.

Sora grabbed his father and embraced him along with his mother. "I just love you folks! Hahah!" Sora said with a light chuckle.

Cloud and Aerith exchanged gentle smiles as they hugged their son.

"Alright… let's break it up. I'm kinda hungry." Cloud told them as he let go of them and jumped out of bed.

"No!" Sora wailed.

Aerith laughed, "Come on, Sora, I have to cook lunch for us! And where's your sister?" she asked.

"Aw, she's just in her room playing with her dolls." Sora told her.

Aerith lifted him off from herself and placed her on the space on the bed where Cloud was. With that, she got up and straightened her night shirt.

Cloud looked at Aerith first before smiling slyly. Aerith gasped, but before she could say anything else, Cloud ran to the bathroom, closed the door and locked it.

Aerith pouted. "He'll hog it for more than 30 minutes. Can I use your bathroom, Sora?" she asked.

Sora laughed. "Sure, mom!" he said happily.

Cloud opened the bathroom door again and motioned for Aerith to come in. "Aw c'mon. We can share." He told her before turning to Sora. "Say, Sora, why don't you check on Aerial for a while and start preparing lunch while… your mother and I are in the bathroom, huh?" he asked simply.

Sora innocently nodded his head and happily obliged, stepping out of the room.

Aerith giggled as she went to the bathroom, "Oh Cloud, you silly man, you…" she said with a slight blush on her face. Cloud just shrugged. "Whatever." And embraced her…

* * *

The End. ;) 


End file.
